Watch: Dubai Police shows how a family car can rack up Dh4,200 in fines in 60 seconds

Dubai Police driving video shows family committing litany of offences

Dubai Police shows how a family car can rack up Dh4,200 in fines in 60 seconds . Photo Courtesy: Dubai Police

From chatting on the phone to holding a child unbuckled in your lap, Dubai Police has released a video that shows a family committing a raft of offences to hammer home the message of safe driving.

The short film featuring actors was published three weeks after stricter rules on road safety came into force.

This includes a new law that compels every occupant of a vehicle to be buckled up at all times.

The changes to the law made it an offence to travel in the backseat without being fastened in, which had long been called for by both police and road safety campaigners.

In the video, an Emirati family are seen driving along in a Ford Flex, with a child unbuckled and sitting on their mother's lap, while the father driving is distracted throughout.

The family proceed to swerve across a lane, use a handheld phone at the wheel and allow their children to move around the car unrestrained.

Police recorded that the driver racked up 20 black points and Dh4,200 in the space of the 60 second film, asking 'is it worth it' to defy new road rules.

The video sparked a significant debate on social media.

Muhammad Waqas said there are times he and his wife have allowed their children to sit unbuckled.

"I have been driving and my wife has kept on passing our kid forward and backward," he wrote on the Dubai Police facebook page.

"It's very dangerous. We will be very careful for our own safety and for the rest of people."

Fellow user Chris Lawrenson, who appeared to be an emergency services responder, also said: "I've dealt with accidents where people haven't worn a seatbelt, it makes you wonder why you would choose not to put your child in something that can save their lives?"

Tazz Shabbir added: "Yet I see so many doing the same. If only the police accepted footage from my dash cam."

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Read more:

Dubai's RTA issues new range of road fines 

Wash your car or risk having to pay a Dh3,000 fine

Latest from The National's Motoring section

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