Abu Dhabi: Police are warning residents on how to properly cross the road and will impose a fine for jaywalkers that break the rules.
Abu Dhabi Police have released CCTV footage of several pedestrians that were caught crossing the road from undesignated areas, which was uploaded on their social networking sites as part of an awareness campaign against jaywalking.
The campaign, which was carried out in five languages, revealed different instances when residents were caught on camera for not crossing the road properly.
“Abu Dhabi Police warns the public against the dangers of passing through undesignated areas and urges them to use to the proper pedestrian crossings, underpass and bridges for their own safety,” it said.
Motorists were also cautioned to follow the traffic rule and to give pedestrians priority when using zebra crossings.
Article 43 of the traffic law states that a Dh500 fine and six traffic black points will be slapped against motorists who do not give way to pedestrians.
The violation of Article 111 of the traffic law incurs a Dh200 fine and three traffic black points for stopping the vehicle in a manner that causes danger to pedestrians or impedes their movement.
Earlier this year, Abu Dhabi Police announced that it will install new radars to catch jaywalkers, in addition to monitor drivers who won’t stop at pedestrian crossings.
The radar is equipped with two cameras, which works by scanning the vicinity and notifying pedestrians when it is safe to cross the road.
Simultaneously, the device will also alert motorists to stop and give way while people are crossing the road.
If motorists fail to give way to pedestrians, one of the cameras on the smart device will scan the vehicle’s plate number and register the offence with the Command and Control Centre at Abu Dhabi Police Headquarters.
Major General Ali Khalfan Al Dhaheri, director of the Central Operations Sector at the Abu Dhabi Police, said the new smart radar system 'Hather' would be operational this year. It also aims to curb the number of violations and reduce run-over accidents in the emirate.
"The smart system 'Hather' is equipped with two cameras, one for vehicles coming towards the zebra lanes and the other for detecting pedestrians - aims to control jaywalkers via display monitors in both directions," said Al Dhaheri.
In 2017, the Abu Dhabi Police caught 50,695 people crossing roads from undesignated areas.
