Driver fined ₹25,000 in Dubai for not using indicator, internet compares it to India

A post by Soumendra Jena on traffic fines in Dubai sparked a debate on India's chaotic traffic.

An Indian-origin, Dubai-based entrepreneur has sparked a debate on traffic rules in India after revealing that a driver in Dubai was fined nearly ₹25,000 — simply for not using indicators while changing directors.

A Dubai driver was handed a steep fine for not using the indicator (Representational image)

Soumendra Jena posted about the traffic fine on the social media platform X. He said that the fine was issued to a friend and wondered how such strict penalties, if implemented in India, could change the country’s chaotic traffic situation.

Traffic fine in Dubai

“So a friend in Dubai just got 25,000 INR penalty for not using his indicator. Imagine if this level of strict rules come to India? Would be a game changer,” Jena wrote on X.

He shared a screenshot that shows a fine issued by Dubai Police on October 3 for “Failure to use indicators when changing directors or turning/ wrong overtaking.”

The fine amounted to 1,000 AED (nearly 25,000 INR).

Comparisons to India

Jena’s post sparked a debate on the traffic chaos of India.

“Interesting, do people even have money enough to pay such fines? Or will there be mass bankruptcy as most people in India are living on loans anyway,” wondered one X user. (Also read: ‘Peak Bengaluru moment’: Rider uses frying pan as helmet to dodge traffic fine)

“Unless this is automated.... this kind of high fine will give rise to more bribes to the traffic police,” X user Ankit Uttam theorised. “It is already a case in today's India when Gadkari increased the fine amount and it led to traffic police men asking for 500 rupees in bribe instead of 50 or 100.”

“Dubai has incredible infrastructure to match. Wide lanes for buses, taxis and personal cars to stop. 24x7 working traffic lights, even small “galis” are lit well. Well marked and guided highways and residential roads and much more,” an X user wrote.

“Nope, we have a tendency to blame everything on taxes or potholes when it comes to basic civic sense and following the rules & also, people will say that the middle class is being squeezed by the government,” another countered.