Fewer accidents reported in second half of year
Published: 15 Nov 2016 - 12:42 am | Last Updated: 28 Dec 2021 - 11:39 am
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Doha: Work on the unified GCC traffic fine payment system is almost complete and Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE are ready to start implementing the project, chief of the General Directorate of Traffic at the Ministry of Interior said yesterday.
The new system, once implemented, will link all the traffic departments of the GCC countries through a unified mechanism for payment of fines.
No one can escape paying the fines for traffic violations committed in any GCC state.
“The unified traffic fine payment system will be implemented soon. Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE are ready to implement it, and 90 percent of the system is complete,” Brig Mohamed Saad Al Kharji, Director of the Department said yesterday on the sidelines of the GCC Traffic Media Strategy meeting held yesterday at Traffic Department headquarters.
“The aim of implementing this system is to reduce traffic violations and ensure that everyone who commits violations in any GCC country pay the fine. Earlier some violators could move to another GCC country to avoid paying fine, but no one can do it anymore once the system is implemented,” he added.
Motorists can lodge a complaint if they have any objection to the violation report. The system also receives reports about violations fast, which will help the vehicle owners, in case they want to sell it, said Al Kharji.
Further elaborating on the system, another senior official at the Department said:
“Normally we receive reports about traffic violations committed in other GCC countries after four to five months, and transferring the money also takes time. With the new system the money will be transferred to the unified account."
He said the fines can be paid either in Qatar or in the GCC country where the violation was committed based on the traffic rules of that country.
Fewer accidents in second half of year: Official
“It is not true that violators will be stopped at the border if they try to leave the country without paying the fine. Anyone who commits traffic violation in any of the GCC states and comes back here, will find the violation registered against him and he has to pay the fine here if he had not paid it before his departing that country,” he added.
Al Kharji said that the second half of this year is expected to see a decline in the number of traffic accidents, compared to the same period of last year.
“Last month we registered only 10 death cases, compared to 23 in the same period last year,” he added. For the first half of this year there was a 45 percent decrease compared to the same period of last year in accidents and deaths.
