In an effort to crack down on a rash of high-speed street racing and stunt driving that has been plaguing the city’s long, straight roadways, Dubai police have seized 81 cars the department claims were being used for illegal racing and other reckless driving behaviors. Some of the vehicles, police say, were caught driving at speeds north of 180 miles per hour.
“Traffic patrols tracked a number of reckless drivers and seized 81 vehicles,” said Dubai police chief Major General Khamis Al Mazinah, according to the BBC. Some drivers, he said, “were using or preparing to use their cars for illegal races. Other cars were caught in dangerous performances and reckless driving that endangered road users.”
Police on the scene reportedly coordinated with dispatchers to pin down and capture the offending vehicles, which were seized primarily in the area of Al Aweer Street and Ras Al Khor Street. (Google Street View reveals those roads to be primarily long, wide roads with at least three lanes in either direction.) Al Mazinah said the police were occasionally in danger while trying to chase down the racers, who in some cases were driving without headlights. It’s not known what time of day the police apprehended the vehicles.
A statement released by the Dubai Police claims some of the vehicles had been stripped of their license plates, in an effort to make them harder to identify. Drivers will reportedly face reckless driving fines of 100,000 dirham (roughly $27,000). Owners will have up to three months to collect their impounded cars, at which point the city will sell them.
It’s not known what type of vehicles were captured in the raid, but given the nature of Dubai’s street racing culture and the high speeds involved, the racers were likely packing some seriously exotic machines. Then again, it’s not like Dubai’s police is lacking in vehicles capable of 180-plus mph speeds.