International Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering 2015, 4(5): 123-130

DOI: 10.5923/j.ijtte.20150405.01

The Impact of Speed Radars on Drivers’ Behavior:

A Case Study in Dubai
Akmal Abdelfatah*, Mahmoud Taha, Ahmed Ramadan, Mohammed Masri,
Rami Kakish, George Kazma

Department of Civil Engineering, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Abstract This paper investigates the impact of speed radars on driving behaviours. A spot speed study has been
performed to determine the level of driver compliance to the posted speed limits at locations between two radars and locations
without radars. Handheld pocket radars have been utilized to record the vehicle speeds on three different road segments. The
first segment is at the exact location of a speed radar, while the second segment is at a location between two speed radars, and
the third is at a road segment with no speed radars. After data collection, statistical analyses were carried out to determine the
descriptive statistics of the speed. In addition to that, the significance of the difference between speeds was examined through
tests of hypotheses. In conclusion, radars are effective in keeping the drivers within the enforcement speed limit, but far less
effective in keeping drivers within the posted speed limit. The Dubai Police Department is recommended to reduce the
difference between the posted speed limit and the enforcement speed.
Keywords Speed enforcement, Spot speed study, Traffic safety

causing the actual speeds on the major freeways (with

1. Introduction
Most of the major highways in the world and in Dubai
specifically, are controlled by speed enforcement tools
(speed radars), which serve the purpose of controlling the
drivers’ speeds on a particular highway and issuing fines for
drivers who violate/exceed the speed limits. However,
radars are scattered over the length of an entire highway,
sometimes with enough distance between consecutive
radars for drivers to exceed the speed limit and still not get
fined as these drivers would be out of radar’s range. This
study aims at examining the driver compliance to posted
and enforcement speed limits at road segments between two
radars and without radars in Dubai - United Arab Emirates
(UAE), and provide statistical data showing compliance or
noncompliance.
This study investigates the effect of speed radars on road
drivers’ behavior and whether they actually help in reducing
the drivers’ maximum speed on the road, which has a major
impact on the number of accidents. The goals of this study
are to determine existing roadway speeds and evaluate the
effectiveness of speed enforcement programs (speed
radars).
The enforcement speeds on Dubai highways are typically
higher than the posted speed limit by 20 km/h., which is
* Corresponding author:
akmal@aus.edu (Akmal Abdelfatah)
Published online at http://journal.sapub.org/ijtte
Copyright © 2015 Scientific & Academic Publishing. All Rights Reserved
posted speeds of 120 km/h) to be around 140 km/h. This
paper presents the results of a spot speed study on three
segments on Dubai freeways.
2. Literature Review
Spot speed studies should be conducted at times when the
road segment experiences “free-flow” driving conditions [1].
Furthermore, local law enforcement and other officials,
such as Dubai Police Department, need to be contacted and
approvals should be permitted before conducting a spot
speed study.
According to a study conducted in 2002, there are around
1 million annual fatalities worldwide due to traffic accidents,
and about 10 million permanently disabled every year. By
the year 2020 estimations show that traffic accidents will
become the third leading epidemic in fatalities around the
world, preceded by clinical depression and coronary heart
disease. In the UAE, traffic accident fatalities significantly
exceed those of other industrialized countries of Europe and
the United States. Moreover, the study concluded that
traffic accidents are the second most leading cause of
fatalities in the UAE. Among top ranked potential causes of
traffic accidents is exceeding the speed limits and driving
carelessly [2].
Based on the traffic accidents that occurred between 1995
and 1999, Dubai has the highest fatality rates per 100,000
population and registered vehicles compared to the other
countries in the group, as illustrated in Figure 1 [2].
124 Akmal Abdelfatah et al.: The Impact of Speed Radars on Drivers’ Behavior: A Case Study in Dubai

Table 1 illustrates the traffic accident data in Dubai for
years 2003 to 2012 based on the data provided by the
General Department of Traffic Police (Dubai Police), and
Road and Transportation Authority (RTA) [3].
As illustrated, the total number of accidents has an
increasing trend from 2003 till 2008. However, the trend
from 2009 till 2012 is decreasing due to the implementation
of the new traffic law amendments in 2008 in Dubai [3].
Some studies showed that traffic accidents to be among
the highest ten causes of death worldwide (9th cause of
death), with a total number of deaths equal to 1.3 million
[4]. More recently, the worldwide fatalities because of
traffic accidents were estimated to be about 1.24 million
[5].
According to statistics issued by Dubai Statistics Center
in 2012, traffic violations in a month have reached more
than 225 thousand traffic violations. Among these traffic
Table 1. Traffic accident data of Dubai (2003-2012) [3]
violations, speeding violations captured by radars were the
highest accumulating a total of about 150 thousand
violations (about 67% of the total violations) [6]. The
percentage of speeding violations is a good indication that
speeding is a major cause of traffic accidents and fatalities.
The previous discussion shows the seriousness of the
speeding problem in Dubai, as one of the major cities in
UAE. Therefore, the local authorities in Dubai are using
speed radars as a tool to reduce the speeds on Dubai’s road
network. Accordingly, there is a need to understand the
impact of speed enforcement on drivers’ behavior. This will
help the local authorities in taking decisions regarding the
applications to be used for speed enforcement.
The following paragraphs summarize some of the efforts
carried out, at different parts of the world, to study the
effect of speed enforcement on drivers’ behavior.

Total number Accidents per 100,000 Number of Accidents per 100,000

Year Population
of accidents population registered vehicles registered vehicles

2003 2,287 1,141,487 200.4 435,722 52.5

2004 2,413 1,228,178 196.5 500,272 48.2

2005 2,794 1,321,453 211.4 630,000 44.3

2006 3,224 1,421,812 226.8 740,187 43.6

2007 3,335 1,529,792 218 868,592 38.4

2008 4,011 1,645,973 243.7 996,997 40.2

2009 3,576 1,770,978 201.9 1,021,880 35

2010 2,686 3,300,000 81.4 1,031,961 26

2011 2,636 3,361,183 78.4 1,055,412 25

2012 2,932 4,089,107 71.7 1,137,750 25.8

Figure 1. International traffic fatality rates, 1995-99 [2]

 International Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering 2015, 4(5): 123-130
A study conducted in Barcelona evaluated the level of
reduction in the number of road collisions, number of
injuries, and number of cars affected by an accident due to
the presence of speed cameras on Barcelona's beltway. The
study compared accidents on two road segments, where one
road had no speed cameras installed and one with speed
cameras installed. The analyses of the study were based on
collisions and accidents’ data. The results of the study
concluded that speed cameras are effective in reducing the
number of accidents and, therefore, the number of injured
people [7].
Oliver and Gernot [8] discussed the implementation of a
smart camera traffic enforcement system at a railway
crossing as a tool to improve the traffic safety. The system
has been designed to capture traffic violations.
In another study in London, UK, Walter et al. [9]
presented the impact of increasing the police enforcement
within an urban area. The researchers reported the effect of
setting speed radars and more static and mobile police
enforcement that are easily recognizable by the drivers. The
authors concluded that there was a systematic speed
reduction along the considered corridor due to the
application of the enforcement measures. However, there
was no effect of these enforcement measures on the use of
seatbelts and mobile phones.
Dowling and Holloman [10] conducted a study to
determine the most effective way to position or display
enforcement speed controls, such as radars. They indicated
that the purpose of traffic enforcement is not only to issue
tickets for drivers violating the posted speed, but also to
alter the drivers about the perceived risk associated with
speeding behavior.
Another study was conducted on the rural roads in the
Dutch province Friesland. Enforcement was mainly
implemented by means of movable radars. The evaluation
covered a period of 5 years of enforcement, where the speed
data showed a great decrease in mean speed and the
percentage of speed limit violators over time. The largest of
these decreases was witnessed in the first year of the
enforcement implementation, and also in the fourth year,
when enforcement was strengthened. Decreases in mean
speed and number of violators were also noticed on a
nearby roadway that was not subjected to enforcement
radars due to the spillover effect. The best approximation
for the safety effect of the enforcement project is a
reduction of 21% in both the number of injury accidents and
the number of serious casualties [11].
A study that examined the effect of speed radars on
traffic speeds was conducted in Vancouver, Canada. The
researchers conducted this study on two arterial streets, one
with radar enforcement in place and the other with no speed
radar enforcement. The summary data for the study showed
the traffic volumes, average daily speeds, and the
percentage of vehicles exceeding the speed limit. The study
found out that average speeds on the radar enforced street
are reduced by 2.2%, on the other hand, the unenforced
125
street showed only a 1.6% decrease with the enforcement.
These results confirm that adding speed radar enforcement
affects the average speeds of vehicles traveling on the
streets on which the enforcement is implemented [12].
According to a study conducted in British Columbia (BC),
Canada, and using time series analysis, it has been found
that photo radars reduced traffic collisions by 14% and
collision fatalities by 26%. Non radar controlled and radar
controlled sites were compared to assess traffic and
collision migration. It has been observed that the mean
speed at non-photo radar monitoring sites decreased by 3%.
The study concluded that the automated speed enforcement
program reduced collisions considerably at both radar
controlled (-14% ± 11%) and non-radar controlled locations
(-19% ± 10%). In conclusion, “the BC Photo Radar
Program was proved to be effective in reducing traffic
speeds at enforcement and non-enforcement sites. Moreover,
crashes, injuries, and deaths were reduced as well [13].
Transport Quebec issued its evaluation report on the first
year of its 18-month photo radar pilot project. The report
concluded that photo radars are effective in reducing
vehicle speeds and road accidents. The pilot project
comprised of 15 locations: 6 fixed photo radar sites, 3
mobile photo radar police vehicles and 6 traffic signal fixed
installations. In fixed radar locations, drivers reduced their
speeds by an average of 12 km/h. A 9km/h reduction in
average speed was recorded in mobile radar locations.
Overall, there was a 99% reduction in excessive speeding, a
63% reduction in speeding and a 20-35% reduction in
accidents across the 15 locations. As for the technological
aspect of the radars, the report mentioned that the stationary
radars were able to monitor 92% of all passing vehicles and
mobile radars were able to monitor over 80% of passing
vehicles [14].
In the US, Haibabaie et al. [15] evaluated the effect of
using radars for speed enforcement in work zones. The
study concluded that the speed radar did not have an impact
on the headway at the radar location and it’s downstream.
Liu et al. [16] analyzed the effect of controlling the speed
on the road network using radars and cameras. The results
showed that thee radars have a limited effect on the speed.
On the other hand, the cameras showed much better effect
on limiting the speeds. The effectiveness of speed
enforcement on freeways has been evaluated by Xu et al.
[17]. They concluded that the effectiveness of automated
speed enforcement depends on the location of the
enforcement device. The effect on speeds may extend to
about 2 km, when the speed enforcement device is fixed on
cantilevers. However, road side speed enforcement showed
an effect of about 1 km only.
As it is noticed from the literature review, there is a good
evidence that the speed radars have an effect on drivers’
behavior. Also, the speed radars not only result in a
reduction in the average speed at their locations, but also
they can result in a reduction in the average speed on roads
in the vicinity of the controlled segments.
126 Akmal Abdelfatah et al.: The Impact of Speed Radars on Drivers’ Behavior: A Case Study in Dubai
This paper is aiming at quantifying the level of speed
reduction that is achieved on Dubai’s road network due to
the extensive use of speed radars on the majority of the
major roads in Dubai, especially on freeways.
3. Methodology
A handheld “Pocket Radar Model PR1000” is used
throughout the study to measure the speeds of vehicles. The
speeds are measured from the back of the vehicles in order
to reduce the chances of drivers spotting and reacting to the
pocket radar.
A pilot study was conducted to determine the sample size
required to obtain a representative sample of the entire
population during the actual study. In essence, the standard
deviation of the speed readings of the pilot study is needed
to determine the sample size. The tolerance is chosen to
satisfy the accuracy requirements while at the same time
keeping the required sample size within a manageable and
practical level.
Readings of vehicle speeds travelling on 3 different
highway sections have been obtained (i.e. without a radar
control, at the exact location of fixed radar, and between
two fixed radars). The sequence of vehicles’ speeds to be
measured is at random in order to eliminate any bias.
The speeds of vehicles travelling on left lanes were
measured at the location between radars and at the location
without a radar control only, since bridges overpassing the
highway are available at these locations. The speeds of the
vehicles travelling on the highway underneath the bridge
can be measured safely. Due to the unavailability of an
overpassing bridge at the location that is at a radar control,
the speeds of vehicles travelling on the right lane were
measured. The readings obtained from the right lane on the
location that is at a radar control are multiplied by an
adjustment factor in order to estimate the speeds of vehicles
travelling on the left lane in that location. The factor is
calculated from the ratio between the average speeds of
vehicles travelling on the left lane and the vehicles
travelling on the right lane at the location between two
radars.
The collected data is summarized in the form of
frequency and cumulative frequency curves to examine the
data distribution and the total percentage of drivers driving
below a certain speed [18].
As mentioned earlier, data taken from the right lane on
the location that is at a radar control is multiplied by a
factor to obtain the equivalent left-lane speeds. Speeds of
vehicles travelling at the left and right lanes in the location
between radars were collected at the same time, and the
ratio between the average speeds of these two lanes is used
as a factor to convert the right lane readings of the location
at a radar control to left lane readings. However, before
proceeding with this step, a Chi-Square (χ2) test between
the two sets of data is required to test the similarity of the
pattern of the two samples to decide if it is possible to
multiply the speeds from the right lanes by a factor to
obtain the equivalent leftmost lane speeds [18].
This study revolves around a null hypothesis (Ho) that
states that “drivers do not actually comply with the
maximum radar speed limit on a road for the entirety of the
road, but rather they only slow down at the locations of
fixed speed radars”. The only way to accept or reject this
hypothesis is by testing its validity through “Test of
Hypothesis” procedure [19].
The null and alternative hypotheses can be written as
follows:
Ho: µ < Radar speed limit (enforcement speed)
H1: µ ≥ Radar speed limit (enforcement speed)
Where µ: Mean speed on a particular road.
4. Results
This section presents the pilot study results and the spot
speed study results.
4.1. Pilot Study Results
In the pilot study, 50 speed readings were collected on
Friday, March 1, 2013, from 11-11:50 A.M. It should be
noted that Friday is an official weekend day in Dubai. The
selection of the morning time on a weekday is to guarantee
free-flow conditions on the freeway. Accompanied by
Dubai Police; the readings were recorded at a location
between two radars on Emirates Road (one of the major
freeways in Dubai), above a bridge overpassing the
highway. The posted speed limit on this freeway is 120
km/h and the enforcement speed (radar speed) is 140 km/h.
The speeds of vehicles on the leftmost, middle, and
rightmost lanes were measured in order to examine the
difference in speeds of vehicles on different lanes.
As observed, the speeds’ average on the leftmost lane
was the highest, and on the rightmost lane was the lowest,
as expected. The standard deviation of the speed
measurements from the leftmost lane was found to be 9.905
km/h. Using a tolerance of 2 km/h, the required sample size
was calculated to be approximately 100 vehicles.
The test of hypothesis proved that speeds of vehicles
travelling on each lane group are different from each other
(i.e. μ1 ≠ μ2, μ1 ≠ μ3, and μ2 ≠ μ3).
4.2. Spot Speed Study Results
After collecting all the readings for the three cases
considered (at radar, between two radars, and no radar
locations), the frequency and cumulative frequency
distribution curves were plotted. The curves help in the
initial determination of the normalcy of data points for each
of the three road cases.
From Figure 2, the cumulative frequency distribution
curve of the location between radars, it can be deduced
without further analysis that the majority of drivers drive
within the enforcement speed. However, the same cannot be
said about the posted speed, as the majority of the drivers
drive above the posted speed limit.
 International Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering 2015, 4(5): 123-130 127

(χ2) test resulted in a calculated (χ2) value higher than the

100% decision value, using the same degrees of freedom and the
Cumulative % Frequency

80% same α. Therefore, the right lanes of the two different cases
do not exhibit the same distribution, making the initial
60% assumption invalid.
40% This third (χ2) test was performed in order to prove the
assumption that if the left lanes of two different cases
20% exhibit similar distributions of speeds, then it can be
0% assumed that the left lane speed distribution of the third
case, location at the radar, would exhibit a similar
118 128 138 148 158
distribution as well. Using the same decision value, α, and
Speeh (km/h) number of degrees of freedom, the calculated (χ2) value of
101.03 is greater than the decision value of 12.59, thus
Figure 2. Cumulative Frequency Distribution Curve – Location between indicating that the distributions of these two cases are not
Radars
similar and deeming the initial assumption invalid.
From Figure 3, the cumulative frequency distribution The results of the three (χ2) tests came to the result that
curve of a location with no radars, a different pattern is the speed distributions of all three cases are not similar.
observed. Although the observation that most of the drivers There is data for the left lanes in two of the cases, between
exceed the posted speed limit still holds, another radars and without radars, and the data of the right lane in
observation that a significant percentage of the drivers also the case at the location of radar. So it’s not possible to
do not drive below the enforcement speed limit. compare the former two cases with the latter case through a
test of hypothesis.
100% Having completed the (χ2) tests, three cases of tests of
Cumulative % Frequency

hypothesis were performed. The first case involved

80% comparing each of the speed averages of the three cases
60% studied by the group with their respective posted speed limit
and enforcement speed limit. To start the test, a pair of null
40% and alternative hypotheses for each case was defined, one
20% involving the posted speed limit, and the other involving the
enforcement speed limit.
0% It should be noted that the posted speed limit for the
100 120 140 160 cases between radars and at radar is 120 km/h on the
Emirates Road, while it is 100 km/h on Al-Khail road for
Speeh (km/h)
the case without radars. The enforcement speed limit,
Figure 3. Cumulative Frequency Distribution Curve - Location without however, is 140 km/h and 120 km/h, respectively. The null
Radar (Ho) and alternative (H1) hypotheses are defined in Table 2.
Since it was not possible to acquire left-lane data for the Table 2. The Null (Ho) and Alternative (H1) Hypotheses for the Three
Cases
case at the radar, the speeds on the most right lane were
measured. Accordingly, it was required to decide on a Left Lane, Left Lane,
Right Lane,
certain factor to convert the data into equivalent left-lane Between Without
At Radar
Radars Radars
data. The factor cannot be obtained and used unless the
distributions for the left lane and right lane are similar. The With Respect to
H0: µ = 120 H0: µ = 100 H0: µ = 120
Posted Speed
(χ2) test was performed in order to check the similarity H1: µ > 120 H1: µ > 100 H1: µ > 120
Limit
between the two distributions.
With Respect to
The Level of Significance, α, assumed to be 0.05, along Enforcement
H0: µ = 140 H0: µ = 120 H0: µ = 140
with the number of degrees of freedom 6 resulted in a Speed Limit
H1: µ > 140 H1: µ > 120 H1: µ > 140
decision (χ2) value equal to 12.59. The sum of Chi-Squares
Where µ: The speed average recorded on that road.
calculated is equal to 158.9, which is significantly greater
than the decision value. The test indicates that the two After defining the null and alternative hypotheses for
distributions are not similar, and thus a factor cannot be each of the cases, the test is performed using the z-value of
obtained to be then multiplied by the right lane at radar data the sample and the z-value at 95% confidence level.
in order to get the equivalent left lane data. Equation 1 was used to compute the z-value of the sample.
The (χ2) test was performed in an attempt to prove that
the distributions on the right lanes of two different cases to zsample = (µ-µ0 )/(s/√𝑛𝑛) (1)
be similar, then it can be assumed that the distributions on The value obtained from the equation would then be
the left lanes of the same two cases would be similar. The compared against the z-value at 95% level of confidence,
128 Akmal Abdelfatah et al.: The Impact of Speed Radars on Drivers’ Behavior: A Case Study in Dubai

which is equal to 1.645. If the zsample value is greater than After using equation (2), Zsample was equal to -9.4, which
the 95% z-value, Ho is rejected while H1 is accepted, and means that Ho is rejected and H1 is accepted.
vice versa. The results are shown in Table 3. Specific patterns were observed in the data points
collected during the spot speed study. These Patterns
Table 3. Results of the First Test of Hypothesis
enabled a better understanding of the drivers’ behavior in
Left Lane,
Left-Lane, Right Lane,
relation to the availability of a radar control on the roadway.
Between The patterns are shown in Figures 4 to 6 and discussed in
Without Radar At radar
radars
the following section.
µ=132.07 µ=129 µ=114.06
Parameters
s=5.762 s=17.215 s=12.05
With 5. Discussion of the Results
Respect to
ZSample=20.95 ZSample=16.85 ZSample= -4.93
Posted In the roadway section with no radar controls, it is
Speed Limit observed that the majority of drivers (68%) drive at or
ZSample > Z95% ZSample > Z95% higher than the enforcement speed of the radar as shown in
Result of ZSample < Z95%
Test
Reject Ho, Reject Ho, Figure 4. Also, the percentage of drivers speeding driving at
Accept Ho
Accept H1 Accept H1 or above the posted speed limit on the same section is about
With (94%), as illustrated in Figure 5. This indicates that the
Respect to
ZSample= -13.76 ZSample= 5.23
ZSample= majority of drivers commit speeding violations on a
Enforcement -21.53 roadway without radars.
Speed Limit

Result of ZSample < Z95%

ZSample > Z95%
ZSample < Z95% 30
Reject Ho, % of Observations 25
Test Accept Ho Accept Ho
Accept H1 20
15
The second case of the two tests of hypotheses involves
10
comparing the average speed of the case between radars on
5
the left lane to the case without radar control on the left lane
0
as well. For the third case, the location at radar on the right
lane, cannot be compared with the other two because of the
significant difference in speed between the lane groups,
proven by the analysis of the pilot study data, and the (χ2)
tests that prevented the use of an adjustment factor to get % of Enforcement Speed Limit
equivalent left-lane data for this case.
Figure 4. Distribution of Vehicle Speeds in Relation to the Enforcement
The test concerns the difference between two means
Speed - Location with no Radars- Left Lane
which come from independent samples. In ideal cases, the
difference in the speed averages of these two cases should
25
be 20 km/h or more since the difference between the posted
% of Observations

speed limits of the 2 roadways is 20 km/h. If, however, the 20

difference in averages is less than 20 km/h, this is an
indicator that on average drivers on the road without radar
enforcement are driving at speeds close to the average of
drivers driving between two radars, which is to say that the
drivers on the road without radar enforcement are violating
both the posted and enforcement speeds. As in the previous
case, the null and alternative hypotheses were first defined
and set up as follows:
H0: µ1 - µ2 ≥ 20
H1: µ1 - µ2 < 20
Also as in the previous test of hypothesis, the z-value for
the sample is calculated and is compared to the z-value at
95% level of confidence; if the sample z-value was larger
than the 95% z-value, Ho is rejected and H1 is accepted.
The z-value for the sample is calculated using Equation 2.
𝑠𝑠 2 𝑠𝑠 2
zsample = (µ1 − µ2 − 20)/�� 1 � + � 2 �
𝑛𝑛 1 𝑛𝑛 2
15
10
5
0
% of Posted Speed Limit
Figure 5. Distribution of Vehicle Speeds in Relation to the Posted Speed -
Location with no Radars-Left Lane
Considering the roadway section with radar control, it is
observed that the percentage of speed violations drop
significantly in comparison to a roadway without a radar
control. As shown in Figure 6, the majority of drivers (90%)
drive at speeds that are lower than the enforcement speed,
(2)
and only (10%) of the drivers violate that speed. It can also
 International Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering 2015, 4(5): 123-130
be noted that drivers overall drive very close to the
enforcement speed, as observed from the distribution where
all the observations are packed around the enforcement
speed.
100
% of Observations
80
60
40
20
0 location of a fixed radar control with the other two cases as
% of Enforcement Speed Limit
Figure 6. Distribution of Vehicle Speeds in Relation to the Enforcement
Speed - Location between Radars-Left Lane
As for the compliance of drivers to the posted speed limit,
none of the speeds recorded at the location between the
radar were below the posted speed limit, as depicted in
Figure 7.
60
% of Observations
50
40
30
20
10
0 against the posted speed limit, as overall, radars do not
% of Posted Speed Limit
Figure 7. Distribution of Vehicle Speeds in Relation to the Posted Speed -
Location between Radars-Left Lane
Between radars, on the left lane, drivers, on average,
violate the posted speed limit but are contained within the
enforcement speed limit. However, in the road segment
without radar control, drivers violate both the posted speed
limit and the enforcement speed limit. Finally, in the
location at the radar on the right lane, drivers comply with
both the posted and enforcement speed limits, which is
expected as the right lane is the slow lane and cannot be
compared with the other two, left-lane cases.
The result of the second test of hypothesis indicates that
the average speed on a road segment without radar is higher
than both the speed limit and the enforcement speed as well.
For the location between radars, the average speed is higher
than the speed limit but less than the enforcement speed.
From the distribution of data obtained from the location
between radars, it can be recognized that the use of radars
on a roadway can help in keeping drivers within the
129
enforcement speed, as the majority of drivers drive within
very close proximity to that enforcement speed. However,
the data also shows that radars do not necessarily succeed in
keeping drivers within the posted speed limits, as the
majority of drivers tend to drive above that speed.
From the road section without radar control, it is
observed that the majority of drivers commit serious traffic
offences, exceeding the enforcement speed by 30-40% in
some cases. In comparison to the road section with radar
control, speeding violations are much greater.
It was not possible to compare the case that is at the exact
only right lane measurements were obtained for that case
due to safety regulations enforced by the Dubai Police.
Trials to convert the right lane measurements to equivalent
left lane measurements using adjustment factors or
normalization techniques were proven unsuccessful due to
the difference in distribution between the lane groups.
6. Conclusions
After the analyses conducted for the spot speed study, it
was proven that radars help reduce the number of speeding
violations. However, legally, speed violations describe only
the speeds above the enforcement speed, not the posted
speed. So, if the effectiveness of radars is to be measured
against keeping drivers within the enforcement speed limit,
then the radar is deemed as effective. However, the
effectiveness of radars quickly diminishes if it is measured
succeed to keep drivers within the posted speed limit.
In conclusion, radars are effective in reducing the
average speed of vehicles travelling on a roadway. However,
due to the difference between the posted and enforcement
speeds, the majority of drivers tend to drive closer to the
enforcement speed, rather than the posted speed. Therefore,
the Dubai Police is recommended to reduce the difference
between the posted speed limit and the enforcement speed
in order to reduce the actual speed on Dubai’s road
network.
REFERENCES
[1] Ross, R.; Prassas, E.; McShane, W. (2011) “Traffic Engi
neering”, 4th edition, Pearson Printice Hall.
[2] Abdalla, I. (2002). “Fatality Risk Assessment and Modeling
of Drivers Responsibility for Causing Traffic Accidents in
Dubai.” Journal of safety research, 33(4), 483-496.
[3] Abdelfatah, A.; Al-Zaffin, M. S.; Hijazi, W. (2015). “Trends
and Causes of Traffic Accidents in Dubai.” Journal of Civil
Engineering and Architecture, 9(2), 225-231.
[4] WHO (2004) “The Global Burden of Disease.” Geneva,
Switzerland.
130 Akmal Abdelfatah et al.: The Impact of Speed Radars on Drivers’ Behavior: A Case Study in Dubai
[5] WHO (2013) “Global Status Report on Road Safety 2013.”
Geneva, Switzerland.
[6] Dubai Statistics Center: (2014). Government of Dubai
website. Retrieved from http://www.dsc.gov.ae/EN/NewsMe
dia/NewsReleases/Pages/Detail.aspx?NewsId=85.
[7] Perez, K.; Mari-Dell'Olmo, M; Tobias, A.; Borrell, C. (2007).
"Reducing Road Traffic Injuries: Effectiveness of Speed
Cameras in an Urban Setting." American Journal of Public
Health 97(9): 1632-1637.
[8] Oliver, S.; Gerno, L. (2013). “A Smart Camera Based Traffic
Enforcement System - Experiences from the Field.”
Proceedings of SPIE-IS and T Electronic Imaging - Video
Surveillance and Transportation Imaging.
[9] Walter, L; Broughton, J.; and Knowles, J. (2011). “The
Effects of Increased Police Enforcement Along a Route in
London.” Accident Analysis and Prevention, 43(3),
1219-1227.
[10] Dowling, K. W.; Holloman, E. (2008). "The Effects of
Conspicuous Traffic Enforcement on Speeding Behaviors: a
Study of Speed Reduction Response." International Social
Science Review 83(3-4): 181.
[11] Goldenbeld, C.; Van Schagen I. (2005). "The Effects of
Speed Enforcement with Mobile Radar on Speed and
Accidents. An Evaluation Study on Rural Roads in the Dutch
Province Friesland." Accident Analysis and Prevention 37(6):
1135.
[12] Kirsten, S.; James, C. (1994). "The Impact of Radar Cameras
on Traffic Speed: A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation." The
Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation 9(1): 51.
[13] Chen, G.; Warburton, R. (2006). “Do Speed Cameras Produce
Net Benefits? Evidence from British Columbia, Canada.”
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 25(3), 661-678.
doi:10.1002/pam.20196.
[14] Carroll McCormick. (2010). “Is Photo Radar Working?”
Truck News, 30(12), 20.
[15] Hajbabaie, A.; Ramezani, H.; Benekohal, R. (2011) “Speed
Photo Enforcement Effects on Headways in Work Zones.”
Proceedings of the 1st Congress of the Transportation and
Development Institute of ASCE, p 1226-1234.
[16] Liu, S.; Sun, X.; He, Y. (2010) “Analysis of Speed Limit
Effect of Automatic Enforcement.” Proceedings of the 2010
International Conference of Logistics Engineering and
Management, v 387, 1836-1843.
[17] Zhang, X.; Liu, P.; Huang, F.; Yu, H. (2011) “Evaluation of
the Speed Reduction Effects of Automated Speed
Enforcements on Freeways.” Proceedings of the 11th
International Conference of Chinese Transportation
Professionals, 2061-2071.
[18] Roess, R.; Prassas, E.; McShane, W. (2011) “Traffic
Engineering.” Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
[19] Devore, J.; Farnum, N. (1999). “Applied Statistics for
Engineers and Scientists. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole
Publishing Company.