Traffic department seeks stiffer fines for speeding

The government is being urged to fine companies whose minibuses and pickup trucks are caught driving recklessly.

DUBAI // The emirate's Government is being urged to fine companies whose minibuses and pickup trucks are caught speeding or driving recklessly, following another fatal accident in Dubai at the weekend. Salah Bu Farousha, the head of Dubai Traffic Public Prosecution, said it was the responsibility of private companies to educate their drivers and make sure they did not exceed the speed limits.

"Under no circumstance should a minivan or a pickup go faster than 100kph, or trucks go faster than 80kph," said Mr Farousha. Dubai Traffic Public Prosecution would also seek tougher sentences for offenders, especially if the case involved fatalities, he added. "There should be zero tolerance for those who speed because they endanger the lives of others." Four construction workers were killed on Saturday night when their pickup truck collided with another vehicle travelling in the opposite direction.

An Indian driver who witnessed the accident said it was a "shocking sight". "The workers wearing blue jumpsuits were flung out of the vehicle and were lying on the side of the road in a pool of blood. They died on the spot. People rushed to rescue them but it was too late." The driver of the vehicle, who was air-lifted to hospital, is in police custody after having been discharged. Five catering workers were killed in July after their minibus swerved and collided with oncoming traffic on Sheikh Rashid Road. A few days later, two men were killed and 15 injured in another accident involving a minibus on Emirates Road.

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