Sharjah New Speed Radars: Here Is Everything You Need to know

A step towards regulating speed limits and improving road safety, one of our major cities, Sharjah, has just installed 30 new smart radar units across the emirate in 2025. This initiative aims to prohibit and detect speeding and also dangerous driving practices, thus helping reduce major accidents and ensure the law is followed effectively, making everybody feel a lot safer on roads.

These tube-shaped devices do not just help catch speeders, but they also detect tailgating, lane violations, and noisy exhausts. The daily speed reduction on Al Ittihad Road to 80 km/h between the Abu Shaghara interchange and Al Taawun Bridge surprises Dubai-Sharjah commuters. All drivers have to be cautious while driving and avoid paying hefty fines with the latest Traffic Law Changes. Here is everything you need to know. 

The Al Ittihad Road Problem

It all starts at the Ittihad Road, where the reduction to 80 km/h frustrates daily commuters. This stretch handles thousands of Dubai-Sharjah workers during peak hours. Drivers accustomed to 100 km/h regularly get caught at 101 km/h when radars trigger.

The 20 km/h buffer does not change enforcement. If you drive 100 km/h in an 80 km/h zone, the radar will not flash, technically. That's 20 km/h over the limit. Get caught at 102 km/h, and you are up for paying AED 600 with 6 black points, which is quite a hefty sum. 

It is reported that Sharjah Police have successfully decreased traffic fatalities by 35% in H1 2025. But if you tell that to anyone who's driven that road at 100 km/h for five years and now owes AED 1,200 for two violations in one week, it's rather dramatic but real.

School Zone Enforcement

Another key aspect of this initiative is ensuring safety around schools. And the city has installed smart speed limit signs near schools, which detect the speed of your car in real time. Drive within the limit, and you are greeted with a green display with a smiley emoji. Exceed it, and you get a red display with your actual speed, and then come the fines. 

Most school zones vary between 30 and 40 km/h. Radars trigger at 51 km/h in a 40 km/h zone, and touching 52 km/h costs at least AED 300. Especially during peak hours (7-8 AM, 2-3 PM), enforcement intensifies.

Parents dropping kids know this, and you are late and rushing, and the school zone radar catches you at 55 km/h. AED 300 fine, 4 black points. Some parents now leave 15 minutes earlier just for the school zone crawl. This is what strict regulation really aims to do: bring in necessary change to help make roads safer. 

New Radar Locations & Speed Limits (2025)

Location	Old Limit	New Limit	Radar Triggers	Main Issue
Al Ittihad Road (Abu Shaghara-Al Taawun)	100 km/h	80 km/h	101 km/h	Commuters
School zones	40 km/h	30-40 km/h	51 km/h	Child safety
Residential areas	Various	25-40 km/h	46 km/h	Pedestrians
University City Road	80 km/h	60 km/h	81 km/h	Students

The Raised Smart Radar System

Sharjah Police deployed "Rased", developed in their traffic innovation lab. This encompasses high-resolution cameras, solar power, and multi-violation detection, including:

• Speeding
• Tailgating (essentially insufficient distance)
• Lane violations
• Noisy vehicles (over 95 decibels)
• Not stopping at pedestrian crossings
• Running red lights
• Mobile phone use while driving

Noisy vehicle detection targets modified exhausts, and if they find anything louder than 95 decibels, it faces an AED 2,000 fine plus 12 black points. Sharjah has zero tolerance for street racing.

Tailgating detection uses distance algorithms. Follow too close and you get an AED 400 fine with 4 black points. This catches aggressive drivers who intimidate slower traffic.

Residential Area Reality

In residential areas, the speed limits drop to 25–40 km/h, and the new smart radars enforce this strictly. If you drive through any zone at 50 km/h, you will most likely get caught.

But there is a problem, as many roads don't have clear speed limit signs. You are supposed to assume 40 km/h or lower. If you're unfamiliar with the area, you might think 60 km/h is fine because the radar doesn't care.

Pedestrian crossing violations carry an AED 500 fine and 6 black points, and not stopping is not optional anymore.

The Buffer Zone Confusion

To offer some leeway and help drivers, there are some buffer zones, but they are not necessarily that helpful. For example, the city maintains the 20 km/h buffer before radars trigger fines. Technically, you can drive 120 km/h in a 100 km/h zone without penalty. But the buffer protects you from speed violations, not from insurance issues.

Comprehensive vs Third-Party Insurance companies consider any violation when calculating premiums. Even if you avoid fines using the buffer, excessive speed in an accident changes liability. Police reports note actual speed regardless of whether it triggered a radar.

The buffer does not apply to manual enforcement. If a traffic officer clocks you at 105 km/h in an 80 km/h zone, they can issue a fine without buffer protection. Radars follow the rule, and officers do not have to.

What Fines Cost

Speed violations in Sharjah:

• 1-20 km/h over: AED 300, no black points (buffer covers)
• 21-30 km/h over: AED 600, 6 black points
• 31-40 km/h over: AED 1,000, 12 black points
• 41-60 km/h over: AED 1,500, 18 black points
• 61+ km/h over: AED 3,000, 23 black points, vehicle impoundment

Remember the black points matter more than fines. If you accumulate 24 points in two years, your licence gets suspended. Each violation builds toward that threshold, so always pay attention to six points here and four there; all of it adds up fast.

Sharjah offers fine discounts during campaigns (National Day, Ramadan) where you get up to 50% off. But that doesn't erase black points, and they stay on your record.

Navigation Apps Help Sometimes

You can get help from Waze and Google Maps, which show radar locations. Most Sharjah radars are known and mapped. But new smart radars move, and they are not always fixed. Some are portable, deployed at different locations weekly.

The Rased system targets this. Police want unpredictable enforcement, and fixed radars become electronic speed bumps; drivers slow down, pass the radar, and speed up again. Mobile radars capture that behaviour and truly bring more discipline. 

Relying entirely on apps is risky. They lag behind new installations, and the Al Ittihad Road reduction was not updated in all apps immediately. Most drivers got caught before apps reflected new limits, and so be absolutely careful.

The Appeal Process

However, if you receive an incorrect fine, you still have hope. If you believe a fine was issued incorrectly, you can submit evidence (dashcam footage, photos) through the Sharjah Police website or app. The response time varies from days to weeks.

Remember, since the burden of proof sits with you, it is critical the evidence is real. If your dashcam was not recording or you don't have evidence, the fine stands. Even legitimate disagreements face scepticism. The system assumes the radar is correct unless you prove otherwise.

Some drivers just pay rather than fight. An AED 300 fine plus hours dealing with appeals is definitely not worth it for everyone. That's the reality Sharjah Police count on.

Conclusion

So in a major boost to road safety, detecting speed, tailgating, lane violation and noise, the city of Sharjah has gone ahead and installed 30 smart radars. And this has really created a real impact, with strict enforcement, hefty fines and clear detection making drivers nervous, and they simply wish to stick to the rules. Fines range from AED 300 to 3,000 with black points. Appeals require proof you probably don't have. Navigation apps lag behind new installations. But all of this is to ensure that people drive with responsibility, especially at key areas where the risk is high and the speed limit is low, making the road safer for everyone.