Traffic fines at this year's National Day festivities double



DUBAI // Ninety-nine cars were confiscated and more than 1,300 fines issued for traffic offences during National Day festivities, Dubai Police have said.

Most of the fines were issued for endangering lives and reckless driving. The penalty for either offence is a fine of Dh2,000 and 12 black points on the driver's licence.

Seized cars are kept for a maximum of three months, on top of any confiscation time stipulated by fines attached to the offence.

There were 146 cars confiscated last year, but the number of fines more than doubled, to 1,345 from 661 fines last year.

Maj Gen Mohammed Saif Al Zaffin, the head of the Dubai Police traffic department who personally patrolled the streets on Thursday and Friday, said there had been a change of attitude among the public.

But Gen Al Zaffin said there were still people who used celebrations as an excuse to create chaos.

"There is still a category of people, mainly young people, who are hopeless," he said.

"No matter how much you raise awareness they continue to exploit celebrations to carry out offences and put their and other people's lives at risk.

"Parents of the young people caught spraying foam on cars were asked to sign an undertaking that this is not to be repeated."

But creating disorder and breaking traffic rules were not confined to youths, Gen Al Zaffin said.

He said he caught a mother who insisted her children could hang out of their car during the parade.

"I personally went to warn her that this endangered her children's lives, and she did not want to listen until I threatened her that I would fine her," Gen Al Zaffin said.

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MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg

Tottenham 0-1 Ajax, Tuesday

Second leg

Ajax v Tottenham, Wednesday, May 8, 11pm

Game is on BeIN Sports

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Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950

Engine 3.6-litre V6

Gearbox Eight-speed automatic

Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm

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SUNDERLAND 2002-03

No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.

SUNDERLAND 2005-06

Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.

HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19

Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.

ASTON VILLA 2015-16

Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.

FULHAM 2018-19

Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.

LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.

BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66

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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
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UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
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The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.

The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.

Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.

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