Tourist incurs DH175,000 fine in just 4 hours for speeding in UAE

A British tourist has racked up DH175,000 (AU$64,180) in total speeding fines while driving a rented Lamborghini Huracan in Dubai. The man is currently stuck in United Arab Emirates because his passport is with the dealership, which doesn’t want to pay the penalties.

Farah Hashi, 25, incurred the staggering fine from 33 speeding tickets with the DH1.3 million (AU$478,000) luxury vehicle just four hours after renting it from Saeed Ali Rent a Car last month. He triggered every radar on his way as he drove between 126kph and 230kph, according to the National.

The dealership owners said they received notification of the offences from 2:31 a.m. to 6:26 a.m. on July 31. According to Faris Iqbal, a partner in the dealership, Hashi paid DH6,000 (AU$2,200) for the two days of car rental. The tourist also left his passport as guarantee.

The owners had submitted a request for a travel ban on Hashi but were rejected. The problem now is who should pay for the fine.

The Lamborghini is currently parked outside one of Dubai’s most prestigious hotels. The dealership doesn’t want to claim it because it would be asked to pay the penalty. The fines amount to DH70,000 (AU$25,700) for the 33 offences and DH 100,520 (AU$36,860) to retrieve the car from the police pound.

“We can’t pay this amount should the car be taken into the pound,” Iqbal told the newspaper. “It’s still with the tourist, parked at his hotel. I won’t be trying to take it back, because once I do, I know I have to surrender it to police. Then who pays the money for the impound? We shouldn’t do so for sure. It’s his fault and he should pay that amount.”

Because the vehicle was a rental and therefore under the name of the dealership’s owners, the tourist can leave the country even after incurring the fines. As the National notes, the traffic fines acquired by expatriates are linked with departure counters at airports across the country to stop them from leaving. But even though Hashi’s passport is with the dealership, it doesn’t guarantee that he cannot leave UAE through other means.

“I was fearing that he may go to his embassy claiming that he lost his passport in order to get a new one then leave the country,” Iqbal told the National. “I can’t keep his passport with me for long.”