Dubai: The speed limit on Dubai-Al Ain highway will be cut down to 100km/h from the existing 120km/h on April 1, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said.
The speed limit has been reduced on the stretch of road between Bu Kadrah and Emirates Road interchanges, following which the speed will remain 120km/h.
The decision is in keeping with road safety on the section of the road that is seeing an increased flow of traffic, particularly with high proportion truck movement.
The busier stretch has witnessed several fatal accidents.
The speed limit for heavy vehicles will remain 80km/h, which is a norm for all Dubai highways.
“The decision to lower the speed on this sector of Dubai-Al Ain Road was primarily driven by the need to maintain public safety and curb traffic accidents. Recent statistics have shown that this area witnessed seven fatal accidents, while several moderate accidents due to excessive speed,” said Maitha Bin Udai, CEO of RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency.
The proportion of truck movement on Dubai-Al Ain Road has grown to 14 per cent and with increasing volume of light vehicles at high speed heightens the chances of accidents.
“High speed is considered a direct contributor to 20 per cent of fatal crashes, and a secondary contributor to 80 per cent of fatal crashes in the emirate of Dubai, which obviously tells that speed control is one of the most effective tools of reducing traffic accidents,” said Maitha.
Explaining the mechanism to set a particular speed limit on a road, she said: “The speed of a particular road is decided on a number of parameters including the design of the road, urbanisation level on both sides of the road, pedestrian movement, availability of schools, mosques and other vital facilities, scope of crashes witnessed, traffic volumes, and the high probability of serious accidents.”
