Dubai registers 670 drunk driving cases in 2020

Dubai Traffic Prosecution registered 670 cases against motorists for driving under the influence of alcohol in 2020, down 38 per cent from 1,080 in 2019, an official revealed.

Officials also booked 94 cases against drivers for being under the influence of drugs last year – down from 108 cases the previous year, revealed Salah Al Falasi, head of Dubai Traffic Prosecution.

Under the UAE’s traffic law, a person driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or any other narcotic substance can face imprisonment and/or a minimum fine of Dhs25,000. The court may also decide to take away the driving licence for a period of between three months and two years and also deny the driver the right to renew the licence after its expiry.

Overall, the Dubai Traffic Prosecution recorded a 41 per cent year-on-year decline in the number of traffic cases in 2020.

“Dubai Traffic Prosecution dealt with 7,287 traffic cases last year, including 58 that involved road deaths, compared with 12,385 the year before, with 82 of them involving traffic deaths,” he said.

“We will not tolerate drivers violating traffic laws and we will seek the toughest punishment against them,” said Al Falasi.

While 38 drivers were faced with charges of endangering the lives of other road users – down from 53 in 2019, 17 were charged with causing serious injuries to others – also down from 50 people in 2019.

A total of Dhs21m in blood money was collected between 2019 and 2020 from drivers against whom final rulings were issued in cases of causing wrongful deaths in road accidents.

Blood money is paid to the victim’s family in cases where a driver is found to be at fault in a fatal accident.

Al Falasi also confirmed that a new smart system has been implemented to connect police stations with the traffic prosecution to enable a faster investigation.

“Not only does it reduce the time it takes to have a severe crash investigated, but this system also helps clear a crash scene faster and prevent traffic congestion,” he explained.

The project also uses a smart application to complete the investigation – in line with Dubai’s paperless strategy.

“All procedures and correspondence needed as part of a traffic crash investigation can be done through the smart application. It will cut time to few hours while in the past the procedure needed 10 working days,” he said.

More smart projects are expected to be launched this year, including one that will grant insurance companies access to the outcomes of traffic cases.

“This way insurance companies will no longer need to submit requests or visit the services centre to find out the outcome of a traffic case,” said Al Falasi.