ABU DHABI // Twenty cars were confiscated last month by Abu Dhabi Police after the drivers were caught travelling in excess of 200kph. The fastest driver clocked by the "Sniper" radar system, a mobile traffic monitoring platform, was zipping along at 259kph, a speed the Ministry of Interior called "madness". During the system's first 48 hours of operation this March, it caught 250 speeders. As well as being fined, the offenders had their cars confiscated for 30 days and were given 12 black points on their licence. Accumulating 24 black points leads to the suspension of a licence. The news came as Abu Dhabi Police announced plans to step up police patrols ahead of the Eid holiday.
The campaign called "Eid joy, regrettable accident" aims to combine more patrols with community awareness programmes to fight the usual holiday increase in traffic accidents. According to Colonel Khamis Ishaq Mohammed, the acting director of the Abu Dhabi Police's department of traffic and patrols, young people often celebrate Eid by joyriding and racing. smclain@thenational.ae