Maximum speed limit to be cut on Abu Dhabi roads

Take our poll: The days of driving at 20kph above the speed limit without seeing a radar flash in Abu Dhabi are coming to an end.

Police are to enforce the posted speed limits within Abu Dhabi.

The days of driving at 20kph above the speed limit without seeing a radar flash are coming to an end.

From the start of next year, 60kph means 60kph on the city’s roads – and anyone exceeding it faces a fine.

Most drivers know there’s a “buffer zone”, usually 20kph, between the speed limit posted on roadside signs and the limit that’s actually enforced.

Now that margin will be cancelled on city roads, and gradually reduced on motorways with a view to eliminating it within two years.

The new limits will not be enforced overnight and there will be publicity to let drivers know about the change, said Brig Hussein Ahmed Al Harithi, head of the traffic department at Abu Dhabi Police.

“The department seeks to ensure drivers are safe on roads,” he said. “There are roads classified as dangerous for their high number of accidents, which invites control by all possible means, including cutting the grace speed limit.”

The department aims for no road deaths in Abu Dhabi by 2030.