Residents of Dubai community losing sleep over late-night road races

Stressed residents of The Villa say people racing cars and motorcycles until 4am is disrupting their children’s studies

Simon Taylor said boy racers on a road beside The Villa in Dubai are making life a misery for him and his neighbours. 'If they are not racing they are revving their engines. Believe me it is not the sound you want to hear at 3am in the morning.' All photos by Reem Mohammed / The National

The D54 road is beside Mr Taylor's villa.

He and his family cannot sleep until 4am on many nights.

The D54 is otherwise known as Sheikh Zayed Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan Street.

Inconsiderate boy-racers drive motorbikes and cars up and down the road.

Families in a Dubai community hit out at speeding late-night drivers for making their lives a misery.

Parents said dozens of them are racing their bikes and cars until 4am without a thought for the stress and the disruption to children’s studies they cause.

One resident said he was surprised no one had been killed in the late-night racing sessions, given “the crazy speeds” they reached.

Residents of The Villa said the D54 motorway beside their homes was now essentially a racetrack.

They told The National many neighbours had left because of the problem, and that they would have no choice but to do the same unless the situation changed.

“Every night from about 9pm until 1am you have about 20 to 30 people on motorbikes racing up and down the road,” said Simon Taylor, 49.

“Then after that you have groups of people racing cars until about 4am.

“If they are not racing, they are revving their engines. Believe me, it is not the sound you want to hear at 3am in the morning, when you are trying to sleep.”

Mr Taylor, from the UK, said the constant late-night noise was causing a great deal of stress.

“My daughter is 16 and doing continuous assessment online as she is at the age that she would be doing her GCSEs [British-curriculum exams],” he said.

“It is a stressful enough time, and she is constantly on edge without the added problem of not being able to sleep properly at night.

“We have often gone through nights of barely getting any sleep because they are roaring up and down the roads.”

He said the problem started shortly after the family moved into their home in The Villa, almost three years ago.

“My wife and I are both firmly of the opinion this will be our last year here because of the noise,” said Mr Taylor, who works in Dubai as a manager with an IT company.

“It is a shame because we love the community, but the lack of sleep is just ridiculous at this stage.”

The D54 is otherwise known as Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan Street.

The 25-kilometre stretch of road connects Al Yalayis Road/Jebel Ali-Al Hibab (D57) in Jebel Ali with the road from Dubai to Al Ain (E66).

The road, which was estimated to cost more than Dh470 million, opened to the public in 2018.

Another resident of the community said the continuous sleepless nights meant he feared for his health.

“We’ve been putting up with it for far too long, and the problem never seems to go away,” said Gary Williams, 49, who has two children.

“We have phoned the police countless times and, to be fair, they always send a car out, but quite often the racers return that very night once the police are gone again.

“There are nearly always at least 20 cars racing up and down that road every night.”

He said the lack of sleep was starting to make him concerned about his ability to function at 100 per cent the next day.

“I just feel constantly tired all the time and never stop worrying I might make a mistake or say the wrong thing to a client at work because of it,” said the Englishman, who works in the oil and gas industry.

“We are seriously considering moving away from here because it’s become too much at this stage.”

Mr Williams suggested the authorities should install speed bumps, or even roundabouts, to deter the racers from roaring up and down the street.

“There needs to be more deterrents to stop this from happening,” he said.

Another resident said the late-night racing was out of control, particularly at weekends.

“It is just mayhem on Friday nights,” said South African Andre van Heerden.

“They go past at such crazy speeds and make so much noise.

“I know so many people who have packed up and left because of it.”

The National approached both Dubai Police and Dubai Properties, the management company of The Villa, for comment.