UAE speed limits, road rules and child seat law

Rules are as of 6 November 2026. Items marked from 1 January 2027 come from Cabinet Resolution 174 of 2026, which replaces Ministerial Resolution 130 of 1997. Its text is Arabic only on the portal, so the wording here is our translation.² Penalties are in the traffic fines guide.

What is the speed limit on your road?

Read the sign. The UAE has no single national limit: each emirate’s licensing authority sets limits and radar locations.³ The one road limit set in federal text is 40 km/h on internal residential streets, in the current regulation and in Resolution 174.¹²

Sources for Table 1

Dubai Police,⁴ RTA,⁵ Gulf News on Abu Dhabi,⁶⁷⁸ Ajman Police,⁹ Gulf Today¹⁰ and Khaleej Times on Ras Al Khaimah,¹¹ The National on Fujairah.¹² The Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah rows are press reports of announcements by Abu Dhabi Mobility, the Abu Dhabi Joint Traffic Safety Committee, Ras Al Khaimah Police and Fujairah Police.

The limit can change when you cross a border on the same corridor. Dubai Police list Mohammad Bin Zayed Road at 110 km/h, and Ajman’s dataset lists Shaikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road at 120 km/h.⁴⁹

Is there a speed buffer in your emirate?

Abu Dhabi has none. Dubai, Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah publish or announce radar speeds above the sign. A radar setting is not a higher limit. Gulf News reports that the sign remains the official limit in Dubai and that a buffer is not permission to exceed it.⁸¹³

Abu Dhabi Police removed the 20 km/h grace speed from 12 August 2018 and raised the signs to match, so a 60 km/h sign became 80 km/h and a 120 km/h sign became 140 km/h.¹⁴

Sources for Table 2

Dubai Police.⁴

That list predates the five changes below. RTA says signs are being replaced and cameras reprogrammed, and it does not give the new radar speeds.⁵

Sources for Table 3

RTA.⁵

Will your fine be worked out from the sign or the radar?

From 1 January 2027, the sign. Article 14(2) of Resolution 174 says the value of a speeding violation is calculated from the speeds on road signs. Article 14(1) also has the authorities set enforcement speeds. The text does not say whether radar margins change.²

Sources word today’s position differently. The schedule measures from “the maximum speed limit”.¹⁵ Gulf News lists Dubai’s bands as over “the applicable enforcement limit”.¹³ On an 80 km/h Dubai road with a 101 km/h radar, the two readings give these results, using the current schedule bands.

Sources for Table 4

Schedule items 35 to 40.¹⁵

To see the speed recorded against you, use the evidence images service in the traffic fines guide. Ask Dubai Police on 901 how a specific fine was calculated.

What changed on your route in Abu Dhabi?

Limits have fallen on several routes since 2025, and some now change with conditions.

Sources for Table 5

Gulf News, 2025 changes,⁷ February 2026,⁶ E311.⁸ Every row is a press report of an announcement by Abu Dhabi Mobility or, for February 2026, the Joint Traffic Safety Committee.

A minimum limit still counts where a road has one: driving below it is AED 400 under schedule item 28.¹⁵

Traffic law is federal, so the rest of this page applies in Abu Dhabi too.¹⁶

Which rules apply to you at the wheel, now and from 2027?

Most duties carry over with the same meaning. Resolution 174 names rear passengers for seat belts, adds a 9-hour driving cap and sets out a stop-arm rule for school buses.

Sources for Table 6

Regulation,¹ Decree-Law,¹⁷ schedule,¹⁵ Resolution 174.²

The Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre gives AED 1,000 and 10 points for not stopping at a school bus stop arm.¹⁸ Other fines are in the traffic fines guide.

What must you do for an emergency vehicle?

Move right and slow down, or stop at the roadside if you need to. That is the current rule in Article 4 of the 1997 regulation.¹ From 1 January 2027 that regulation goes, and Article 22(3) of Resolution 174 tells you to keep to the far right when letting priority traffic pass.²

Decree-Law Article 6 ranks priority in this order: official processions, civil defence on duty, vehicles carrying patients and wounded, military convoys, police using sound and lights, then essential services named by the Minister.¹⁷

An Abu Dhabi Police, Civil Defence and Q Mobility campaign gave this guidance, as reported by Emirates 24|7.¹⁹

• Main road. Move to the right lane.
• Hard shoulder. Stay off it. Emergency vehicles use it.
• Internal road with no shoulder. Move right or left between vehicles.
• Junction, on a green light. Stop until the emergency vehicle has passed.
• Roundabout. Do not enter. If you are already on it, keep moving and make space.

Sources differ on the fine for not giving way. See item 54 in the traffic fines guide.

What must you do at a crossing?

As a driver, slow down and stop until people who have started to cross have finished (Decree-Law Article 5).¹⁷ From 1 January 2027, Article 12 of Resolution 174 says you stop fully for them at an uncontrolled crossing, and may not move off at a signal until the crossing is clear.²

As a pedestrian, use the nearest crossing, and walk on the pavement. With no pavement, walk at the far left, facing traffic (Regulation and Article 5 of Resolution 174).¹²

Crossing elsewhere is AED 400 under schedule item 89.¹⁵ The Decree-Law goes further.¹⁷

Sources for Table 7

Decree-Law.¹⁷

Article 7(4) bars pedestrians from crossing roads with a limit above 80 km/h, while Article 39(2) applies at 80 km/h or more, in both the English and Arabic texts.¹⁷²⁰ Treat an 80 km/h road as covered.

What must you do in rain or fog?

Slow to a speed that lets you stop within what you can see, and stop if you have to. That applies now under Article 38 and from 2027 under Article 15(2).¹²

• Fog. Use your lights. Driving without them in fog, or against the authority’s fog instructions, is AED 500 and 4 points under item 104.¹⁵
• Temporary limits. Abu Dhabi Police activated 80 km/h limits on several external roads during fog in September 2026, then lifted them.²¹
• High beam. From 2027 it is allowed only on unlit outside roads where visibility is not enough to drive safely, and it may not affect other road users’ view (Art 26(3)).²
• Heavy rain and flowing valleys. Follow the authorities’ instructions, and do not endanger yourself or others (Decree-Law Article 5).¹⁷

What does the law require for your child’s car seat?

A child aged 4 or younger needs a seat suited to their weight and length, and the driver must provide it. The law sets the age and front seat limits. It gives no kilogram or centimetre bands for the seat itself, and refers to the standards applied in the UAE.¹²

Sources for Table 8

Regulation,¹ Resolution 174.²

Age 4. The regulation, Resolution 174 and the Arabic schedule all say four or younger.²² The English schedule PDF says “under 4 years old”.¹⁵ Keep a four-year-old in a seat.

Front seat. The regulation and Resolution 174 allow a child who meets either test, age or height. Schedule item 49 fines allowing a child aged 10 or under, or under 145 cm, in the front, which reads as needing both.²² A child who is over 10 and at least 145 cm meets every version.

Penalty. Schedule items 49 and 50 are AED 400 with no points, in both the PDF and the Arabic schedule.¹⁵²² The Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre gives AED 400 and 4 points for no child seat, and Sharjah Police’s FAQ gives AED 400 and 4 points for a child under 10 in the front.¹⁸²³ A belt not worn by a passenger is item 51, covered in the traffic fines guide.

Beyond age 4. The Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre advises keeping a child in a seat until they pass its size and weight limits, whatever their age, and taking a seat with you for taxis, rentals and chauffeured cars.¹⁸ In a RoadSafetyUAE survey reported in May 2026, 52% of parents said their child always uses a proper seat in a taxi, limousine or friend’s car.²⁴

Can breaking a rule affect your insurance claim?

Yes. The unified policies have clauses on alcohol and drugs, licence problems, speed races and intentional offences. They do not name speeding, phones or seat belts.

Sources for Table 9

Third party policy,²⁵ loss and damage policy.²⁶

Ask your insurer how a clause applies to your claim. More detail is in the unified policy guide. Licence rules are in the driving in the UAE guide.