You’ll have to slow down by 10 kilometres per hour from today…

Remember how we told you the speed limits on E311 and E611 were being reduced? Well, that new limit starts today.

Both Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road (E311 – this used to be called Emirates Road) and Emirates Road (E611, which used to be called Dubai Bypass Road) now have speed limits of 110 kilometres per hour. The speed limits on these national highways used to be 120 kilometres per hour.

The new speed limits mean that speed cameras and radars will now go off at cars going 131 kilometres per hour (because there’s a 20 kilometre per hour leeway on all UAE speed limits).

*ALSO: You’ll soon be able to earn points on your Nol card to get free stuff*

According to traffic law, you’ll be given a Dhs600 fine for exceeding the speed limit by 30 kilometres per hour, Dhs700 for 40, and Dhs1,000 for 50.

The speed reduction affects the entire length of the roads (E311 is 140 kilometres long and runs from New Al Falah in Abu Dhabi to Ras Khaimah, while E611 runs from Al Maktoum International Airport to Umm Al Quwain). Around 12 per cent of the traffic on E311 is made up of trucks.

The RTA and Police made the decision to reduce the speed limit to try and bring down the number of accidents on both of the major highways after they were identified as accident prone roads (remember on E11, or Sheikh Zayed Road, the speed limit is 100 kilometres per hour, meaning speeding fines start from 121 kilometres per hour).

In the first half of 2017, E311 saw 99 accidents (resulting in six fatalities and 78 injuries), while E611 had 40 accidents during the same time period, leading to 10 fatalities and 75 injuries.

Another move they’re making to improve road safety is increasing ‘directional and awareness signage’ on the roads.

“Lowering the speed limits on the Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and Emirates Roads is a result of elaborate traffic safety studies and analyses of traffic accident data along with their causes over the past years.” said Maitha bin Adai, CEO of Traffic and Roads Agency at the RTA.

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Image for illustrative purposes only. Credit: Getty