The Dubai Speeding Festival

Image by Camera Slayer via FlickrDubai Police have finally clarified the traffic fine discount story and confirmed to The National that a 30% discount on all motoring violations will be available for the coming three months to December 11th.

You have to pay all your fines at once and, you'll note from the story 'Police are working with the Ministry of Interior to allow people in other emirates to get their discount when paying Dubai fines' - or, in other words, quite how this will work if you live in Abu Dhabi and want to get your discount.has yet to be quite worked out.

I have to confess to being a tad puzzled by this one. Cars here have to be registered annually, with a road-worthiness test and a registration process that involves you paying all outstanding fines. So if the police are giving a discount to encourage people to pay their outstanding fines, that must surely mean people aren't actually registering their cars (because you can't avoid paying the fines if you do register your car).

But then surely you just look out for people who aren't displaying the up to date registration stickers on their car bumpers and nick 'em if they've got no registration and outstanding fines. Even better, look up people who have registered vehicles and who haven't renewed their registrations and then pay 'em a house visit with a Black Maria in tow.

Anyway, the discount will reduce the 'entry level' traffic fine of Dhs700 to Dhs490, so you might as well make hay while the sun shines and cough up.

If this is successful we could maybe look forward to having an annual event. You could have fireworks and things, even raffle off a Lexus every day. Hell, you could even have a mascot! Speedhesh!