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Court and Crime, a news series from gulfnews.com.
Welcome to Episode 4. Every week, find out what is happening on the police beat with our crime reporter, Ali Al Shouk.
#CrimeNews #CourtAndCrime #DiscountTrafficFines
Court and Crime, a news series from gulfnews.com.
Welcome to Episode 4. Every week, find out what is happening on the police beat with our crime reporter, Ali Al Shouk.
#CrimeNews #CourtAndCrime #DiscountTrafficFines
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good afternoon and welcome to the next edition of Caught in Crime with our Chief Crime Reporter
00:13Ali and he is going to tell us on how his week has been and which are the top stories
00:19that's taken up his time and which you can also find on golfgears.com.
00:27If you are a driver and you didn't commit traffic fines since February 6th, then you
00:32will have good news.
00:33There will be a 50% discount, you will be eligible for the discount.
00:38It's part of the Dubai Police Initiative to encourage drivers to follow the traffic laws
00:44and to drive safely, to reduce the traffic fines and accidents.
00:48So on August, now drivers will be eligible for 50% discount on their accumulated traffic
00:55fines.
00:56It's quite a helpful initiative because I know that when you, especially when you go
01:00to renew your registration, it can come as a bit of a shock, the massive sum of money
01:05that you might have accumulated with fines.
01:07Yes, the good thing with Dubai Police, you can renew your driving license now without
01:11even paying the traffic fines in Dubai.
01:14So you can renew it, you can benefit from the initiative.
01:18Today, head of Federal Traffic Council, Major General Zafin, he said that after one year,
01:27they will check the results of the initiative.
01:29If it's successful, then it will be a recommendation that will be going to the Interior Ministry
01:37to approve it on a federal level.
01:39So the initiative might be actually for all UAE, not only in Dubai.
01:46So this suggestion will present to the Federal Traffic Council, they're going to discuss
01:50it by February 2020, and it might be for all UAE drivers.
01:56The initiative, until now, after six months, about 425,000 drivers benefited from the initiative,
02:04which is a massive number.
02:07It's about 25% of people who are carrying Dubai driving license.
02:11So that shows a lot of interest from drivers to get the discount traffic fines.
02:17And actually, it's building a culture for drivers to just like to follow the traffic laws,
02:23not to commit to traffic fines, even if there is no initiative.
02:28Drivers should follow traffic laws.
02:29Yes, absolutely.
02:30You have to drive safe.
02:31And that is something Dubai Police has said repeatedly.
02:35And we hope to see this as a nationwide initiative.
02:38So Dubai starts off as a test case.
02:40Yeah, yeah.
02:41And then looking at how it's done over the past six months, it sounds like really successful.
02:46Yes.
02:47And according to Dubai Police's stats, number of deaths reduced by 15%, actually, compared
02:55to 2018.
02:57And the funny thing is, you remember the Omani bus?
03:02Yes, the accident.
03:03Yes, that killed 17 people.
03:05I mean, if we just like the Major General Zafin, he said, if we just like accept this
03:10accidents, the reduction in casualties on the roads, it can be reached 77%, not 15%.
03:18But it's only this exceptional accidents that has happened.
03:21So all the results from number of casualties, injuries, death, it's reduced since the initiative
03:29was launched by Dubai Police on February this year.
03:32That's excellent news.
03:33And let's all who drive, try and make it a safer place to drive.
03:37Yeah.
03:38And the next story is about WhatsApp blackmail.
03:42Yeah, it was a story in Dubai courts recently this week.
03:47A woman received death threats on her WhatsApp from a friend.
03:55He basically borrowed 2,500 dirhams from her, and he was delaying of returning the
04:04money back.
04:05So then he started to send her death threat messages on WhatsApp, asking her not to report
04:12it to the police and stop asking for the money.
04:14So what she did, she just like went to Dubai Police, and she launched a case against him.
04:20And he is now prosecuted for issuing death threats online.
04:26Yes.
04:27It's death threats online.
04:28Yes, because UAE takes cyber law, excuse me, and cyber crime very seriously, and this is
04:34not acceptable.
04:35Yes.
04:36And this is, I think, a good test case to also advise people that if you see yourselves
04:41in trouble or at any point feel that something is going wrong, approach the authorities.
04:46Yeah.
04:47They will do their best.
04:48This case is such a good example that even if you threaten somebody on social media,
04:54online, WhatsApp, or different kind of social media platforms, you can be prosecuted.
04:58Yes, you will be held accountable.
05:00Yes, yeah, because it's a strong evidence.
05:03She presented her phone to the prosecution, and they took a copy from the conversation
05:07between her and the guy, and that was a good evidence and enough evidence.
05:13And that was submissive in the court of law.
05:16Yes, yes.
05:17And the Dubai courts convicted the driver, and he was sentenced actually in courtroom
05:23of issuing death threats online.
05:25Okay.
05:26Yeah.
05:27And the third case is actually an old story that keeps happening and continues to surprise
05:33and shock us.
05:34Yeah.
05:35Parents forgetting their children in cars.
05:36Yes, I know, but yeah, it is still shocking that we're living in, and they are still not
05:43aware of the dangers of leaving a child unattended.
05:46Recently, there was an incident in Sharjah, actually, it's happened.
05:51Some people called police saying that there is a kid who was trapped inside his car, inside
05:56a car.
05:57So the police, they couldn't manage to know who was his parents, so they acted quickly
06:03and they rescued the boy.
06:05Thanks God the boy was safe, and he wasn't in good health, but that incident, it's actually
06:12raised a huge concern on the parents who are leaving their children inside their cars,
06:18little children.
06:19Children, they are not aware of the environment around them.
06:23They don't know how to open the door and this kind of stuff.
06:25So they find themselves locked inside a car in this hot weather.
06:28It is really a huge issue.
06:31Yes, it's unsafe practice.
06:33Yes, that police and different government departments in the UAE are warning people
06:38from leaving children inside cars because it can lead to death, suffocation.
06:43Temperatures inside the car in this hot weather will be massive and nobody can bear it and
06:50handle it.
06:51Yes, I mean adults find it difficult, so imagine young children, and these actually have very
06:55strong physiological impact on the child and which can impact their organs, etc., which
07:01can lead to fatalities.
07:04So we need to be careful, and as the authorities keep saying, forget your children in the car.
07:11Yes, Sharjah police, they contacted the parents later and they discovered that the parents
07:16actually forgotten their child inside the car after they left.
07:20So they parked the car and left.
07:22So I mean...
07:23Which is really bizarre, actually.
07:25It is really weird because parents, everybody, you guys need to check the car after you leave
07:33the car in this hot weather.
07:37So always check the cars, always check, look after your children because you never know
07:43when such an incident can happen to you.
07:46Yes, absolutely.
07:47Yeah.
07:48So on that cautionary note, we end today's edition of Court and Crime, but we will have
07:53more stories for you next week as Ali comes back for his next edition.
07:57Thank you very much for joining us.