Dubai Police seize 23 vehicles for tampering with number plates

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

Dubai Police seized 23 vehicles last year, as their drivers deliberately obscured or changed the features of the number plates with the aim of deceiving the control devices and traffic cameras and hence trying to evade traffic fines.

According to Major General Saif Muhair Al Mazrouei, Director of the General Department of Traffic at Dubai Police, Dubai Police possess modern smart technologies and police officers are highly experienced in detecting any attempts to obscure or change the features of number plates.

Closely monitoring internal and external roads to detect these violations, Dubai Police detected vehicles whose drivers deliberately used chemical materials to cover the numbers, while others bent the plates or added stickers that prevented the identification of their numbers, he said.

A young man was arrested after he appeared in a video clip that went viral on social media, deliberately removing his vehicle’s number plate and committing serious traffic violations including running a red light, exceeding the speed limit, causing chaos and showing off, he added, noting that his speed exceeded 190 km/h.

Another driver was caught spraying a chemical substance to hide part of his plate numbers to appear as two-digit numbers, he said, adding that the vehicles were seized and a fine of Dhs50,000 would have to be paid to release them in accordance with the provisions of decree no. 30 for 2023 regarding impoundment of vehicles.

He added that Dubai Police deal strictly with manipulators, noting that such actions are listed under fraud and are consequently turned from mere traffic violations into criminal cases.

Al Mazrouei called on the public to co-operate with the police in monitoring such negative behaviors and reporting them via the Police Eye service on the Dubai Police app on smartphones or by calling the We Are All Police initiative on 901.