Revision MKII... I thought it was wise to keep this open. At last we have seen that the original idea of taking the official speedlimit to 140kph on the Abu Dhabi ~ Dubai was not an urban myth. It has now been posted but with a caveat that apparently the buffer of +20 will not be valid. So apparently 141kph will trigger the radar. There is nothing like being consistent. So some radar will give you +20 on some roads and others won't. Er, why don't we just say that a speed limit is a LIMIT and stick with that? I have quite enjoyed the bizarre comments that have been posted online about this new speed and the 127 car pile up in the fog on the same road a couple of days before the limit was revised. The funniest usually revolve around criticizing people for driving at the speed limit in the left lane and therefore forcing cars to swing around them. There is no hope! People have an ingrained concept of there being a "fast" lane in which it is their "***" right to go any speed they wish. That applies in town too, where the concept that the left lane could possibly be for those who intend to turn left, and move into before the actual intersection, is also clearly alien. No, No, the left lane is for me to do 100+ in a 60kph area to get to the next set of traffic lights quickly and then block traffic because I am in the wrong lane... You should not get into my lane and drive at the pathetic speed limit you slow poke driver...
This entry was originally posted in December following a news announcement in Gulf News that certain highway speed limits were going to be increased to 140kph. That has since been retracted. And highway speeds have been maintained at 120kph (+20) I will leave my original post intact beneath until I get further clarification. My sentiments about the radar grace from 120+20 remain the same.
I have kept away from writing about the roads. I would like to collect some video to illustrate what the roads are like because really it is not easy to describe. However, with the approach of the new year Abu Dhabi has announced new speed limits. In an effort to reduce accidents and to regulate the flow of traffic better it had been announced that they were planning to make the speeds more consistent throughout the city and surrounding areas. Indeed in the short 14km distance that I drive to work the speed limit changes 5 times in the same straight stretch of road (2nd Street, aka Old Airport Road). It seems that stretch will now be consistently signposted as 60kph (but have an allowance of 20kph = effectively 80kph).
The highway from Al Raha over to Dubai is signposted as 120kph. The new limit that has been announced for this road is a whopping 140kph! However, the inevitable irrationality is immediately attached to this with the stated caveat that the radar will only kick in after a 20kph grace. This of course means that now everyone can drive at 160kph with impunity.
The problem with the roads here is not actually the speed as such, it is more the weaving in and out of traffic that takes place at these high speeds as some drivers seek to satisfy their "F1" envy. Now some drivers are not going to go over 140kph and indeed some cars are not going to succeed is driving safely, or even be able to go over 140kph, so you are going to have traffic running at 140kph but still being overtaken recklessly by those who will push to the edge of 160kph, not to mention those who believe the odd radar ticket is just an annoying form of tax and drive any speed they like. Indeed not paying speeding tickets is almost a national pastime.
The concept of a grace amount to compensate for variations of automobile speedometers is conscionable when it is about +5, any more than that and you'd be reasonably held liable for having an unfit vehicle as it cannot register its own speed accurately.
The other disturbing thing about a grace of 20kph on speeds, is that really it is just reinforcing the concept that stated laws are not actually worth anything at face value! That the law may say this ..., but the practice is actually that ...
In conclusion, I believe we will see the following:
Will any of the stated objectives be satisfied. Traffic will still travel at varying speeds, cars will still weave in and out, and accidents will probably become more extreme. However, they won't have to make so many different kinds of speed signs any more.
This entry was originally posted in December following a news announcement in Gulf News that certain highway speed limits were going to be increased to 140kph. That has since been retracted. And highway speeds have been maintained at 120kph (+20) I will leave my original post intact beneath until I get further clarification. My sentiments about the radar grace from 120+20 remain the same.
I have kept away from writing about the roads. I would like to collect some video to illustrate what the roads are like because really it is not easy to describe. However, with the approach of the new year Abu Dhabi has announced new speed limits. In an effort to reduce accidents and to regulate the flow of traffic better it had been announced that they were planning to make the speeds more consistent throughout the city and surrounding areas. Indeed in the short 14km distance that I drive to work the speed limit changes 5 times in the same straight stretch of road (2nd Street, aka Old Airport Road). It seems that stretch will now be consistently signposted as 60kph (but have an allowance of 20kph = effectively 80kph).
The problem with the roads here is not actually the speed as such, it is more the weaving in and out of traffic that takes place at these high speeds as some drivers seek to satisfy their "F1" envy. Now some drivers are not going to go over 140kph and indeed some cars are not going to succeed is driving safely, or even be able to go over 140kph, so you are going to have traffic running at 140kph but still being overtaken recklessly by those who will push to the edge of 160kph, not to mention those who believe the odd radar ticket is just an annoying form of tax and drive any speed they like. Indeed not paying speeding tickets is almost a national pastime.The concept of a grace amount to compensate for variations of automobile speedometers is conscionable when it is about +5, any more than that and you'd be reasonably held liable for having an unfit vehicle as it cannot register its own speed accurately.
The other disturbing thing about a grace of 20kph on speeds, is that really it is just reinforcing the concept that stated laws are not actually worth anything at face value! That the law may say this ..., but the practice is actually that ...
In conclusion, I believe we will see the following:
- a number of small cars breaking down from over "exhaustion" on the roads as they try to keep up (tires and engines are going to suffer)
- a greater fatality rate associated with accidents happening on the highways, as a result of many cars being driven beyond the limits of their safety specifications (most cars here have only the minimum airbag configurations and smaller cars were really only designed for 100kph conditions)
- more weaving drivers over and under-taking across the lanes as they negotiate the vehicles that either can't or don't want to exceed 140kph
- greater intolerance of trucks which appear to be remaining restricted to 80kph and hugging the right exit entry merge lane (if you have to slow from 160 down to 80 to fit in between some trucks to get off at your exit, you're going to feel like you are at walking speed... and nobody walks around here!) so the ability to decrease speed and get into the appropriate lane prior to an exit is going to get even messier. (Seeing cars swing across 3 or 4 lanes to get to an exit is a regular, and heart stopping, sight.)
- not to mention the increased fuel consumption that results from these higher speeds on the roads
- can you imagine what the safe following distance would be specified for cars travelling at 160kph? I can tell you it is not the distance at which the car-behind-you's flashing headlights disappear from view because it is so close.
Will any of the stated objectives be satisfied. Traffic will still travel at varying speeds, cars will still weave in and out, and accidents will probably become more extreme. However, they won't have to make so many different kinds of speed signs any more.