Abu Dhabi – The Abu Dhabi Police announced on Monday that drivers who stop their cars to pray in places other than designated prayer areas on the highways will be fined 1,000 AED for the offence because it endangers both them and other road users.
To improve road safety, the General Directorate of Abu Dhabi Police has started a campaign to raise awareness of the risks associated with inappropriate bus parking on the internal and exterior roadways of the Emirate.
The police claimed that the campaign was started because some bus drivers, who transport both workers and other drivers, would pull over to the side of the road for a variety of reasons, including to pray.
Regulations
The infraction of stopping the car on the side of the road in an undesignated location would result in a fine of 1,000 AED, per the updated rules of Traffic Law No. (178).
The fine for stopping a car at an intersection or a turn is 500 AED, the fine for parking a car in a way that endangers onlookers is 400 AED, and the fine for failing to take the required precautions in the event that their cars break down is 500 AED.
Lieutenant Colonel Salah Abdullah Al Humairi, the Traffic and Patrols Department’s deputy director for Abu Dhabi Traffic, urged drivers to use the restrooms and mosques at gas stations, homes, and labour camps rather than parking their cars on the side of the road to pray and conduct other business.
He stated that the campaign’s goal is to increase bus drivers’ knowledge of the dangers of stopping in places that are not designated, which endangers not only them but also other drivers.
