Full speed ahead

"You've disregarded all the warnings we've given you, you've gone on squandering the money your father left you, and you're getting us animals a bad name in the district by your furious driving and your smashes and your rows with the police."

Wise words from Badger in Wind of the Willows. If only similarly sage advice could be given to young national men: the demographic most likely to die in driving accidents, primarily through speeding. But despite the fact that fatalities have reached epidemic proportion, according to Dubai Police, the speed limit is being raised to 160kmph (100mph) on two major highways.

According to the Interior Ministry, the aim is to improve the country's road networks to reduce the number of accidents and casualties:

"The new rule, according to an Abu Dhabi-based Arabic daily, was issued under the instructions of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in response to complaints by motorists about the increasing number of radars on main highways and suggestions to increase the maximum speed limit to match the emirate's wide and spacious roads."