Jaywalkers to foot the bill or risk being barred from leaving the UAE

Residents who wish to renew, transfer or cancel their visas must first pay all traffic fines, and tourists must also pay their fines before leaving the country.

ABU DHABI // Jaywalkers with unpaid fines could be barred from leaving the country, a decision by the Ministry of Interior says.
From this week, residents who wish to renew, transfer or cancel their visas will first have to pay their traffic fines. This includes visit visas, where tourists must pay all incurred fines before leaving the country.
Brig Gen Ghaith al Zaabi, the director general for traffic co-ordination at the ministry, said the rule was aimed at pedestrians and bicyclists but would also apply to motorists.
"This law does not target car owners," he said. "Those who own vehicles are anyway required to pay the fines when renewing the registration for their vehicles, which must be done on a yearly basis."
"However," Brig Gen al Zaabi said, "pedestrians who violate the law, such as jaywalkers, are difficult to monitor and often get away without paying their fines."
Visitors to the country will not be immune, he said.
"Sometimes people come from outside, rent a car, accumulate fines on the car and return it to the rental agency," he said.
"Oftentimes these people leave the country before the rental agency discovers the fines on the vehicle and then they must bear the cost.
"By linking their visas with their traffic record, [immigration] officials will have an opportunity to catch the offenders before they leave the country."
Major Gen Nasser al Menhali, the assistant under secretary for naturalisation, residency and ports affairs at the Ministry of Interior, said the new system was an electronic link between the traffic departments and the Naturalisation and Residency Department.
"Whenever a person renews, transfers or cancels their residency the system will show a lock if they have outstanding traffic fines," Maj Gen al Menhali said. "When the payment of the fines is completed the system will release the lock and the transaction will go ahead."
On visa renewal or cancellation, a one-month grace period is granted after the date of expiry, he said, giving the violator enough time to settle fines.
The main purpose of the regulations is to make sure offenders feel the implications of their behaviour, Brig Gen al Zaabi said.
"Many people avoid paying their fines and do not renew the registration for their vehicles, and this goes on for years," he said.
About 10,400 black points have been accumulated by motorists throughout the country, Brig Gen al Zaabi added.
Some drivers are apprehensive about the law.
Salah Suleiman, a sales manager at an IT company in Abu Dhabi, had 24 black points on his record and his driver's licence was confiscated when he tried to renew his vehicle registration.
On average, Mr Salah, 27, accumulates between Dh15,000 (US$4,083) and Dh20,000 in traffic fines a year. Most of them are for speeding, while a quarter of them are fines for illegal parking, not wearing a seatbelt and talking on a mobile phone while driving.
Mr Salah said recent incidents have made him overly cautious.
"The other day I was talking on the phone while walking, not driving, and when I saw a police officer I told my friend on the line that I had to go," he said. "I only realised what I did afterwards."
But Mr Salah said his wariness could be a short-lived result of having to pay his penalty.
"Life goes on and money comes and money goes," he said. "But recently I've been very worried that these fines will give me problems when it comes time to travel, and it seems that with this recent decision it is very possible. So I'm going to try and be more careful."
Employers are also concerned the law may delay and complicate visa renewal procedures for their staff.
"It could create problems, particularly if an employee's residency visa is close to expiring," said Shadi Towfeq Jalbout, the assistant public relations officer at Al Masaood Oil Industry Supply & Services.
"If an employee does not have the money to pay the fines, the renewal process may be delayed and the entire immigration procedure will come to a standstill."
Mr Jalbout said that in such a case, large companies such as Al Masaood may choose to pay the fines for their employees and then take the amount out of the employee's salary in instalments.
"Smaller companies who do not have the funds for this will face real difficulties," he said. "This law has its benefits in terms of making offenders feel responsible for their driving behaviour, but on the other hand it could complicate immigration procedures."
Brig Gen al Zaabi, however, insisted there was no need for apprehension.
"The rule is malleable," he said, particularly referring to residents. "It exists to prevent people from leaving the country without paying their fines."
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* With additional reporting by Awad Mustafa