Motorists in Qatar who get into car accidents must report these incidents to the police within 48 hours, or risk a QR1,000 fine, the Ministry of Interior (MOI) has reminded residents.
Those whose vehicles are damaged by an unknown individual while driving or when their cars are parked must also reach out to the traffic department within this time limit, as part of the MOI’s recent deal with insurers to move to an electronic reporting system, according to the Peninsula.
Last month, the government signed an agreement to send reports of all accidents involving damage to cars directly from the police department to insurance companies.
The goal was to reduce the need for motorists to go to the Traffic Department in person to collect the paperwork needed to make vehicle repairs.
At the time, MOI did not give a start date for the new system, but said that it would enable officers on the scene of an accident to electronically log all the details.
The relevant insurance company would then be directly informed, and motorists would be sent an incident number and details of the insurers by text message.
Reporting an accident to authorities in a timely fashion is not a new law in Qatar, but the rules appear to be seeing renewed enforcement by the Traffic Department.
Under Article 66 of the Traffic Law (No. 19 of 2007), drivers in minor and major accidents are required to report the incident to police “immediately.”
A Qatar traffic consultant told Doha News that the 48-hour grace period had been extended to motorists out of “generosity” and in a bid to stop any delays in reporting incidents as soon as they occur.
Safe driving
This latest move comes amid an ongoing public awareness campaign by the Traffic Department about the penalties facing drivers who break common road rules.
The police have increasingly been fining motorists who overtake others from the right at junctions at the last minute, use emergency lanes, double park, talk on mobile phones while driving and park in areas reserved for those with special needs.
At the beginning of this year, the MOI was said to be sending out more unmarked patrols onto Qatar’s roads to catch and fine those who drive badly.
This is in addition to the regular patrol cars which can often be seen parked at major intersections and in emergency lanes during rush hour to pull over and penalize offenders.
The fine for not reporting accidents in a timely fashion is of the same value as the QR1,000 penalty introduced by the MOI last summer for motorists who fail to move their cars after being involved in minor accidents.
Through a short video and public campaign on social media, the ministry has been urging drivers not to block traffic on roads after a bump, but instead to move their vehicles to the nearest parking area and call police.
Previously, the understanding had been that all vehicles had to be left at the scene to enable police to properly determine culpability.
But with ongoing pressure on Qatar’s roads as the population booms, that strategy has become impractical.
Thoughts?
Lol how many of you ran a search of the fines on the vehicle in the first photo?
You can’t.. They currently require a login to see the fines.
I tried to put a link up but I couldn’t get it to work…The MOI site is working fine and you can see the fines.
http://www.moi.gov.qa/TFCViolations/Actions?action=geteServicesViolationsInput This works…. Arabic…
That car had 10 speeding violations in 2014, one parking violation, and one insurance report…
And English…
http://www.moi.gov.qa/TFCViolations/English/EnglishInput.jsp
No they don’t. Yesterday I was nearly killed near University Petrol Station by a black LC with the registration number 54940. I easily looked him up and found that he has nearly 50 fines in Qatar and UAE worth thousands of Riyals/Dirhams. Obviously not a priority of the MOI to keep someone like that from killing another driver. It’s like the article states: you “risk” a fine. And if you do happen to get a fine, you “risk” having to pay it while the rest of the drivers out there “risk” getting killed by idiots like suspect 54940.
This is quite shocking and very sad also. The leniency towards this type of road “criminals” is absolutely unacceptable from the MOI.
This is how it is. I searched some 3-digit licence numbers. There was one with 50 (!) points and some 50,000 Riyals fines. Still driving until the next registration.
And beyond. Many don’t bother to re-register.
That’s why Al Kharji introduces new licence plates every five years.
Shouldn’t we had new license plate by now, no?
Oh man. That is sad. For us and for MoI!
I wonder if a newspaper would dig that “situation” from a general point of view.
Maybe a bit too much “name and shame”, but that is a serious flaw.
No such sense of “protect the guilty” in the UAE, where the police have no hesitation in releasing details about traffic offenders:
Dubai’s Traffic Police unveiled a new list of the top driving offenders to mark the GCC traffic week and the surprise was that an Asian woman was among the first three.
An Emirati driver topped the list with a whopping 477 traffic offences and total fines of Dh280,000. A Syrian driver came second with 288 offences, following by a Bangladeshi female driver, who piled up 257 offences.
The three committed a total 1,022 traffic offences, according to the Dubai traffic department, which gave no figures on the value of their fines.
The department’s director Colonel Saif Al Mazroui, quoted by Dubai-based Arabic language daily Emarat Al Youm, said an Egyptian driver was the fourth top offender, committing 245 violations, followed by an Emirati woman, who recorded 221 offences.
An Iraqi driver came sixth with 220 offences while an Indian man was 7th in the list, committing 216 offences. Another Emirati woman came 8th with 212 offences and an Emirati male driver was ninth with 206 violations.
“We are preparing these lists with the aim of chasing those drivers who have accumulated large fines and have not paid them in time although we have sent them many notifications. The department has frozen the traffic file of those who have repeatedly ignored our requests to pay their fines,” Mazroui said.
http://www.emirates247.com/news/dubai-s-top-3-traffic-offenders-are-from-2015-03-08-1.583444
This seems to indicate there isn’t much nationality bias on reporting offenses… I would like to know the statistics on actually enforcing them.
I’m actually surprised I haven’t been admonished by some self-righteous person (or relative of suspect 54940) threatening a citizens arrest for invasion of privacy for posting his number here. I (and others I’m sure) could easily supply many guilty registration numbers for a story about this if Shabina was interested because I also play the game of lookup when I encounter someone on the roads that is clearly from the lower end of the gene pool. But my guess is that if ramdom residents started making too many of these “untouchable” people upset by posting their sins in more of a public view that the MOI site would be shut down for public searches. Then you’d get to have a wonderful surprise every year when you went to renew your registration and finally find out if you’re on the naughty list or not.
12 black points – doesn’t this mean the license is gone?
Only theoretically. First they have to catch the guy. Then they have to invite him to court. And if he doesn’t come nothing’s going to happen.
WASTAAAAAAAAAA. Why worry in a land where you can be convicted of child manslaughter but walk the streets of Belgium as an Ambassador, what’s a few traffic fines?
He would not walk the streets of Belgium if the local HE cancels his diplomatic immunity.
this same fellow pushed me off the middle track because the guy, in the lc, in front of him didn’t move out of the way, he was going at 80 and he had traffic in front of him beside him. so Mr. 54940 got in between me [ i was going at 80 too] and the lc and then pushed me off the middle track onto the vehicle beside me in the slow track. this was on the highway. i almost had an attack.
i had my family in the vehicle. idiots like these should be made to walk/crawl here and there to their destination as fine!
i had checked his plate on moi and found the same thing. why aren’t the authorities taking any action against these people.
Wow, this guy is prolific. All the idiots on the roads and we encounter the same one! But I guarantee we’re not his only victims. He probably won’t quit until he kills somebody or himself. And unfortunately I think we all know why the authorities don’t take action against these people…..
I proposed this on another article, but drivers like this should be forced to drive Tata Nanos as punishment. The first time that law got enforced you’d see a huge change in driving behavior around Qatar!
even tata nanos won’t suffice since they will put some turbo engine in them and before long they will be doing the same again.
thank god flying cars aren’t yet for sale!
just wanted to say had a run in with a fellow in orange range rover. was going towards mattar qadeem street behind lulu, the one lane street. traffic was horrendous and this guy starts flashing his lights and honking his horns as if he was going to die. traffic was slow and its a one lane road and what can i do??? at the mattar signal he cuts me off in front so i’m forced to go straight towards the round about. then he starts honking and flashing his lights again from behind. i’m like what is wrong with this fellow?? so i look for an opportunity to let this guy go, he indicates he is going left, and at the round about i just go straight so that he leaves me alone. but then he follows me overtakes me from the right, flips the finger at me and throws tissues out.
where on earth do these idiots come from???? i’m looking at you mr. 5392
Must have been bored. I mean, really, all those are acceptable and expected reactions from a really reasonable person. But the tissues is just going too far….. 🙂 What’s next, a squirt gun?
Maybe the Arabic version needs a login? But for the English version it’s all open to the public to see just how irresponsible the drivers are. It’s always a fun game when you get stuck behind some loon in traffic to look up their fines.
LOL… It defaults to Arabic and I don’t mind it.
I just found all the fines by clicking the links from the Arabic version. Are you using the same website – http://www.moi.gov.qa
that would be 12 as of today 🙂
12, plus the expired vehicle road permit.
Around 12 violation in 2014 and then the permit expired “Vehicle Road Permit Expiry Date :
2015-01-19” all in al wakra.. And I was sad for my one violation .. that made me feel good
Land cruiser should be named as National animal of Qatar.
Feral and untamed?
Protected, endangered species?
No. They are stray animals 🙂
Protected, yes. Endangered, no! Endangering might be a better word.
Individually they are endangered (extremely) but they seem to breed very fast given how many dead ones there are around the roundabouts in the weekends.
Please delete the picture of a white Land Cruiser as this is stereotyping and racism.
Lol
There are lots of expats who drive Land Cruisers.
White(,) Land Cruiser driving expat finds this comment offensive.
Now I could be wrong, but I remember when this landcruiser jumping the curb image first surface online and after much stereotypical discussion someone who witnessed it said it was an expat woman driving
shouldn’t the landcruiser number plate be blurred in the picture to protect the rights of the driver/owner?
Why? It is in a a public place on public display.
absolutely…
That’s a bit disingenious…. I was just teasing you but the White LC is synonmous with the Qatari population….
No way…Qataris account for less than 10 percent of the population. Far less than that drive. White LCs have expats in them too.
If you played word association with someone from Qatar…..
Baseball – America
Chappati – India
Ladyboys – Thailand
White LC – Qatar
…No issues about Baseball, Chappati and whiteLC but Ladyboys in Qatar….crazy.
Eye of the beholder?
But are there lots of expats with 12 violations from 2014 that remain unresolved?
hahahahaha, is Shabina now working with MOI to be able to answer questions about road violations?
I agree, it is the car that has to be blamed for traffic offences – which is why the traffic dept impounds the car and the driver goes Scott free – even continue to drive his other cars…..
Seriously not sure what’s with Mr. White Lancruiser – whoever (expat included) sits behind it’s wheel feels invincible – no signals, lane cutting, overtaking from right, jumping over dividers, parking on footpaths, double parking………
First of all. Fine for us better vacancies .really. I. My self not happy with this job at all
(1) no law at all in Qatar.
Just every year they say that coming month the law should be improve for the employers up to now we don’t see any news about it
Shabina khatir. You are right. Say why because every thing that they are saying is wrong
if it’s not wrong they supose to execute it very quickly hahaha haha ?
Its reality…
Does everyone who has a rental car have a copy of their insurance with them or have any clue who the insurer is? Is there an electronic database that holds details of the licence, test, and insurance for each car? Might not be as easy as they think for the police to inform the insurers.
Insurance is a requirement for the yearly car registration renewal.
As the murder and mayhem continues on Doha’s roads, where drivers can racked up multiple violations and thousands in fines, the MOI tells people to report accidents within 48 hours or you are in trouble.
It shows that their focus is just clearing up the mess after an accident rather than actual prevention.
The only people happy with the way the MOI operates in regardless to reckless and dangerous driving, is the drivers that get away with it and the funeral businesses thay buried the dead.
When will they start fining people for having their headlights on in broad daylight too? I once asked a taxi driver here what the dotted lines meant on the road, he said of course, so we could drive over them. I wish he was joking.
Like everything else, giving out licenses here for some could be a profitable business.
Whats the problem with driving with your lights on during the day? I do as I want to make myself more visible to the LCs. In many western countries that’s common place and are often given insurance discounts for doing so. Called safety.
Headlights on in the day are just good common sense. In many countries the cars have had that feature automatically for at least 20 years. They are called daylight driving lights, and in many places you pay higher insurance if you don’t have them.
Okay, that was meant for Mourad.
A dotted line can be crossed from both sides. If it is solid and dotted the one on the dotted side may cross it. If it is solid there is no crossing recommended. Double solid line means absolutely no crossing. These rules are from the UK, I guess they apply to Qatar, too, theoretically..
Rules and laws in Qatar are recommendations/suggestions only. You don’t have to follow them if you don’t want.
If you have a court case against you and you don’t agree with it, then just don’t turn up! Simple.
Convicted of a crime but you have the right family name, appeal your sentence and get back to work in Belgium! Simple.
Rack up, fines, speeding tickets, black points. Just carry on, no cop will ever stop you!
Most cars are now equipped with what we call “Daytime Running Light”, and the luxurious ones have them in led. The Audi A8 has even the “laser” beam lights which are on during the day. Only people with crappy cars (the Tiida, Corolla and the likes) do not switch on their lights during the day, because their crappy cars do not have that option.
I can only afford a Tilda because you pay me so little sir……
It is about taste not money. The LC and the Lexus LX are very expensive but are also amongst the ugliest cars ever produced. The 2013 LC is also expensive but do not have DRLs.
Check the licence plate 43210. And don’t tell me that I haven’t warned you.
I wonder if that driver is now dead? S/he hasn’t had a violation for over 3 months?!?!
Good question.
I think this can turn into a new social game…Checking fines on “special numbers”. I typed randomly 1001…loads of fines and expired registration 🙂 This could actually be fun
I wonder what would happen if I took the data to the police. They’d probably put me in jail because the offender is one of their cousins.
If the Traffic Police actually collected up all the traffic fines that are owed by the reckless drivers they might be able to build an extra world cup stadium. Or a new airport.
From mid last year when I scraped the database:
top 10 outstanding fines:
+——–+——–+——–+
| plate | points | fines |
+——–+——–+——–+
| 248803 | 103 | 158900 |
| 10897 | 0 | 135220 |
| 296851 | 96 | 93150 |
| 99119 | 20 | 89020 |
| 222841 | 157 | 82900 |
| 72771 | 117 | 71650 |
| 23539 | 33 | 67680 |
| 235666 | 24 | 63080 |
| 78600 | 39 | 62810 |
| 201810 | 19 | 60850 |
+——–+——–+——–+
Top 10 fine value: 885,260
Total outstanding fines: 34,727,475
Top 10 outstanding points:
+——–+——–+——–+
| plate | points | fines |
+——–+——–+——–+
| 22705 | 201 | 25600 |
| 56374 | 158 | 56900 |
| 222841 | 157 | 82900 |
| 232911 | 130 | 58700 |
| 72771 | 117 | 71650 |
| 248803 | 103 | 158900 |
| 296851 | 96 | 93150 |
| 258162 | 87 | 10300 |
| 2702 | 69 | 53400 |
| 31871 | 66 | 28550 |
+——–+——–+——–+
Top 10 total points: 608
Total points: 30,162
Hats off for the extensive research. Shabina, perhaps you guys can turn his findings into an article…I mean, it would be a shame for it to go to waste.
Give us your old Jeep license plate to make sure you’re clean.
I know the car is clean. Don’t need your help.
Actually you right, that piece of crap couldn’t make it passed the speed limit on its best working day.
That’s a bit mean Bender, I’m starting to think the number he posted was your car….
Ibrahim loves to spew personal insults, MIMH. Ignore it.
How was that vehicle registered in 2013 when there was a lot of violations dated 2012?
What a joke, how about working on prevention of accidents you numb skulls?
The bad driving could be easily tackled once the policeman stay on main streets’ intersections of Doha (especially in rush hours). But I believe fining people is not the issue, but applying the law for all (meaning that people actually lose their driving license after pass the limit of points) seems the main challenge. I never witnessed, but heard lots of stories talking about benefiting people based on nationality.
check this link
http://www.carbuzz.com/news/2015/2/19/Owner-Of-Porsche-Carrera-GT-Lets-Lion-Cub-Walk-All-Over-His-Ride-Because-Rich-and-Dumb-7725546/
and then check the violations on that car.
I remember when I first came to the middle east and the taxi driver nearly killed some people on a pedestrain crossing. I asked him what he thought those markings were and he told me road decoration.
If people don’t have to pay income tax would traffic violations be the second biggest source of revenue after oil & gas?
I wonder if this could become an international news story ie the complete disregard for the law and the complete lack of reinforcement. How can this country be the world player it so badly wants to be when in fact it acts like a failed state.
One day the BLOOD of the locals will be filled in the sea of Arabia for all the crimes against humanity they commit, and ALLAH will have NO MERCY on them.
Deleting for condemning a whole people.