The Traffic Department may confiscate the vehicles of motorists who overtake from the right side, it was officially announced yesterday.
The department has decided to intensify patrols to control “the most common violations” like overtaking from the right side and parking at slots reserved for persons with special needs.
Traffic Department assistant director Brigadier Abdullah bin Nasser al-Thani said a two-pronged strategy that included awareness campaigns along with strict implementation of the law to curb violations had been launched.
According to him, the most common traffic violations are parking at slots reserved for persons with special needs and wrong overtaking from the right side at roundabouts and intersections.
Brigadier Abdullah pointed that both these violations were counted as “preventing others from exercising their rights as they are vividly mentioned” in the traffic law.
Taking into account the serious consequences of these two violations, the Traffic Department will take strict action against the offenders, including confiscation of their vehicles for one month or more, he said.
Motorists who are caught for repeated violations will also have to pay fines as mentioned in the law.
The official said that police patrols had already started enforcing these directives and the department personnel were able to pinpoint violators such as those who overtook from the right side as radars had been installed on many of the roads in the country.
First Lt Nasser Salem al-Turki, traffic patrolling officer, said overtaking from the right side contributed significantly to traffic jams. “It also reflects bad behaviour that harms others.”
The Traffic Department urged all motorists to strictly obey rules and not to infringe on others’ rights so that they could stay away from violations and thereby fines.
According to sources, the police have also started penalising motorists who drop off passengers on roads.
A total of 2,598 vehicles were caught jumping traffic lights in Qatar in March this year, according to figures released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS). The number of road accidents was 443, including 43 major ones that led to the death of 13 people and left another 621 injured, 58 of them seriously.
Traffic violations in March included 17,966 cases detected by radars besides those of jumping the red light.
Another 13,726 vehicles were caught for “not following the traffic signs”.
