British tourist in Dubai racks up $47,000 in fines in three hours

In total, the reckless motorist was found to be driving above the speed limit 33 times.

A British tourist visiting Dubai racked up 170,000 dirhams ($47,643) in speeding fines within three hours as he drove 240 km/h on Sheikh Zayed Road, according to Emarat Al Youm.

On July 30, the visitor rented a Lamborghini Huracan worth 1.3 million dirhams ($353,919), and by July 31 - the next day - he was caught speeding by every single radar on one of Dubai's busiest roads.

In total, the reckless motorist was found to be driving above the speed limit 33 times.

Subsequently, the dealership - from which the vehicle was rented - started receiving notifications of the speeding fines, covering a period from 2.30 am until 6 am on July 31.

"He was driving at 230 and 240 kilometers per hour," said Mohammed Ibrahim, the car rental business owner.

Pictured: Dubai's Sheikh Zayed Road Source: The National UAE

At present, the speed limit on Dubai's Sheikh Zayed Road is 120 km/h but motorists are allowed to drive up to 140 km/h on the way towards Abu Dhabi.

The speeding fines amounted to 70,000 dirhams ($19,057) for 12 violations caught by radar, with an additional 105,000 dirhams ($28,585) to cover the cost of recovering the car that was impounded following the tourist's speeding violations.

What the UAE traffic law says

Under the new traffic laws implemented in the UAE last year, the fine for exceeding the speed limit by 80 km/h stands at 3,000 dirhams, along with 23 black points and a 60-day car confiscation.

Saudi authorities jail woman for swearing at her cousin on WhatsApp

“This is just too over the top.”

In Saudi Arabia, insulting someone on WhatsApp is a crime that can land people in jail. A court in the kingdom recently sentenced a woman who swore at her cousin via the messaging app to ten days in jail, Okaz newspaper reported

This came after she sent the woman profane messages, including one in which she told her "you should learn loyalty from dogs". 

The complainant in the case was adamant to file a legal action against her cousin, presenting screenshots of messages she had sent her as evidence. The defendant told the judge her cousin had also sent her vile texts but she presented no evidence to prove that.

Even though the judge tried to reconcile the women, they both refused to end the matter amicably and the case ended with the defendant being jailed.

The case is now making the rounds on Saudi Twitter

Some reacted like this

“This is why I prefer face to face confrontation… you get to drag anyone in front of you without leaving evidence behind.”

Others thought the entire sentence was just too much

“This is just too over the top.”

People just couldn’t even

“Relatives and you do this to each other?”

“Ya sater”

Not the first similar case to be reported in the kingdom

Last year, a Saudi judge sentenced two women to ten lashes each after they insulted each other via the messaging app. The ruling was revealed in a report on the increase of crimes related to social media in the kingdom. 

According to a local newspaper, such offenses have been on the rise in recent months. Other than the "WhatsApp case", several other bizarre ones are now in legal records. 

They include a case involving a man who sent his friend an offensive message and another which saw a man blackmail a woman, threatening to share revealing photos of her.  

Apart from Saudi Arabia, both the UAE and Kuwait implement strict cybercrime laws.