Expensive trip....

Dhs42,000 road fines in minutes

A motorist speeding down Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road clocked up dhs42,000 worth of fines in just five minutes.

The Emirati driver was caught by 12 different cameras, as he bombed down the highway, averaging 180kph, Arabic newspaper Emarat Alyoum reported.  After driving so recklessly, the man will be forced to pay up and his car will be impounded for ten months.  Director of Dubai Traffic Police, Major General Mohammed Seif Al Zafeen, told the newspaper that the man went to the traffic police department on Tuesday.  He claimed he was innocent and that his friend from another GCC country had been driving the car when the incident occurred last month. He asked for the one-year confiscation of his car and hefty fines to be reduced.

Major Al Zafeen said: “In his case, the car has to be impounded for one year because driving at this speed is very dangerous and messy… to encourage him to respect traffic rules, we agreed to reduce the impounding to 300 days.”

The man was from another emirate, and works in a government department.

The incident was reported one day after traffic police toughened up on dangerous driving, announcing any vehicle caught speeding more than 60km over the speed limit would be impounded on the spot.