Residents want peace from racket created by young bikers

A man drives his buggy in Al Salama neighborhood. Residents say young, unlicensed bikers are making too much noise during sleeping hours. Reem Mohammed / The National

UMM AL QUWAIN// Residents say their peace is being shattered by motorcyclists who race through their neighbourhoods.

They said the young, unlicensed bikers are out in force during times when they are trying to sleep in the afternoon or at night.

UAQ Police have impounded 125 motorcycles since the beginning of 2016, but teenagers persist in riding their bikes, particularly when the weather is cooler.

Community members are now demanding stricter punishments for the annoyance.

“I moved to Al Salama area two months ago and since then I have suffered from the noisy sound of motorcycles, especially afternoon and after 8pm. They do not care about the rest time of others,” said Abdulrahman Al Azali, 22, an Egyptian salesman.

“The police are doing their job perfectly as they have impounded a number of motorcycles, but they (the bikers) are still there.”

Mr Al Azali said once the police have released the impounded bikes, the youngsters start driving around again.

He suggested that they are banned from getting driving licences when they are old enough.

Rashid Al Ali, an Emirati soldier living in Al Butain area, said that impoundment did not stop the riders from annoying residents.

“These motorcycles are too cheap. The used one costs around Dh300, so impounding it won’t affect on them because they go and buy another one. For this reason, I suggest imposing a fine,” said the 23-year-old.

Mr Al Ali said that the teenagers’ parents do not know that their boys own motorcycles.

“When they buy one, they either hide it in a place at their home where their parents cannot see it or put it in their friends’ place,” he said.

Omar Abdullah Al Ali, 19, an Emirati university student, said that he complained many times to the police about the bikers.

“I have suffered from these noisy teenagers for the last two years and I often cannot get my nap or sleep at night because of the raucous noise,” said the resident of Al Butain.

“I talked to the teenagers many times but with no good result. I also complained to police, who came and impounded their motorcycles but they bought new ones.”

Lt Col Saeed bin Eran, director of UAQ traffic police, said they have allocated civilian patrols in the residential neighbourhoods.

“Most of the motorcycles that have been seized are unlicensed and shared among teenagers, especially during vacations,” he said.

“The department has formed a team to confiscate these bikes in various areas of the emirate and to prevent this phenomenon from spreading randomly on internal and external roads.”

He said his department has launched campaigns to educate bikers, specifically youngsters, school pupils and their parents, about the need to abide by traffic rules.