Safety campaigners welcome move to scrap buffer zone in Abu Dhabi

Managing director of RoadSafetyUAE says policy should be rolled out across UAE

The speed buffer in Abu Dhabi will be removed on Sunday, August 12. Victor Besa / The National

A traffic sign is a traffic sign! What is written on a traffic sign should not be open to interpretation, buffers or anything else.

As in other countries, the meaning of road signage must be crystal clear: a ‘stop sign’ means stop, a ‘no left turn sign’ means no left turn, a speed sign with 120kph means the maximum speed is 120kph. Hence, it is definitely a step in the right direction to get rid of the speed buffers in the UAE.

However, as the current elimination of speed buffers comes into force only in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, we believe a uniform rule should also apply on a federal level throughout all the emirates. Only this step would deliver the idea of having crystal clear ‘what you see is what it means’ speed limit traffic signs in the country.

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Read more:

National Editorial: Scrapping the buffer speed limit on Abu Dhabi's roads is a step in the right direction

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Speeding remains one of the main killers on UAE roads. Last year it caused the death of 230 people out of a total of 525 road fatalities.

In addition to the mere elimination of speed buffers, RoadSafetyUAE also hopes that this step will go hand in hand with increased speed enforcement activities.

There needs to be mobile radar units, a greater police presence, and an initiative to introduce sections of road where average speeds are monitored.