The Abu Dhabi Police Directorate of Traffic and Patrols has seized 41 cars during the past five months for intentionally defacing and obscuring the number plates in an attempt to cheat radars and avoid being identified by speed cameras. 17 other vehicles were confiscated for driving without a number plate.
Lt. Colonel Ahmed Al Zayoudi, Chief of the Major Traffic Accidents Section at the Abu Dhabi Police Traffic and Patrols Directorate, noted that motorists, mostly coming from other Gulf countries, deliberately obscure and sometimes smudge the number plates to avoid being identified when flashed.
Lt. Colonel Al Zayoudi also stressed that the Abu Dhabi Police has smart laser-fitted electronic control devices that can identify the registration plates that drivers try to obscure or change in an attempt to avert the legal responsibility.
“The directorate is rigorously monitoring internal and external roads to detect any road offenses by motorists who try to blot out the number plates using a chemical spray, or bend the number plates or hang them freely with a chain, so that it becomes difficult to identify them once they are spotted by the radars for exceeding the legal speed limits or any other traffic violation. Such actions are deemed a flagrant violation of traffic rules and are punishable by the law,” added Lt. Colonel Al Zayoudi.
Furthermore, Lt. Colonel Al Zayoudi noted that according to Article No 49 of the Federal Traffic Act No 21 and its amendments, the following offences can bring jail and a fine not less than Dh 20,000:
-Creating and duplicating a number plate or using a fake license plate.
-Deforming, obliterating and altering the information on the number plates and using them for purposes they are not designated for.
-Using or allowing others to use a car with a number plate he knows it is distorted or changed.
-Shifting a number plate from one car to another without obtaining consent from the Licensing Authority.