Some of the frequent Sharjah-Dubai motorists forgot that the speed limit on the ever-busy Al Ittihad Road has been revised down.
Starting today (November 20), the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and Dubai Police jointly decided to reduce the maximum speed limit from 100km per hour to 80km per hour from Sharjah-Dubai border on Al Ittihad Road to all the way to Al Garhoud Bridge. The violators could face a fine of up to Dh3,000 not adhering to the speed limit.
“I didn’t remember that the speed has been revised from today and I had to drive 20km slower. I read about it in the media but forgot the date. When I saw the signs on the road, then it struck me that the speed limit has been revised,” said Najwa Jabri, a Syrian national, who is a Sharjah resident and regularly commutes between the two emirates for work.
Starting her day at 8 am, Jabri drives from Al Khan Roundabout to her office in Al Garhoud four days a week.
She pointed out that the chances of speeding over 80km per hour in the morning are very slim because of heavy traffic.
She added that traffic was significantly higher on Monday morning due to an accident on Al Ittihad Road.
However, it was just a regular day for the sales executive Hassan Shaukat, who drives between the two emirates quite frequently and keeps an eye on the speed limits.
“I am quite vigilant when it comes to the speed limit, especially on the main roads because I drive quite frequently for delivering goods in the two emirates. Therefore, when I read the news about the change in the speed limit last week, I noted it down to ensure that I didn’t forget it. Because sometimes I come to Dubai in the evening when roads are empty and I drive up to 100 speed limit,” said the Pakistani national, who has been residing in the UAE for over 20 years.
Siddharth Somaiya, a restaurant owner, lives in Dubai and drives to Sharjah to look after his business. He hoped that this new speed limit would reduce the massive increase in traffic that has been witnessed in the past few months.
“When I saw the speed signs boards being covered last week, I realised that something is going to change. So I was pretty much aware that the speed limit had changed this morning. I was aware of the new speed limit when I touched Al Ittihad Road as they put the red strip on the road,” he said, adding that he used to drive with cruise control, but that is not the case anymore with a massive increase in traffic.
“The last three to four months have changed drastically in terms of traffic increase,” he added.