The deadline to have new number plates on vehicles has now been extended until November 27 by the Traffic Department. The one-year period specified by the traffic department to replace the old number plates with the new ones is actually coming to an end but the department has announced a grace period and extended the deadline to November 27. Brigadier Moahmed Saad Al Kharji, Director of the Traffic Department, said that the department was allowing another 30 days for replacing the vehicle number plates. Speaking about the rush at various workshops for changing the name plates, Al Kharji said this was happening because people were missing their appointments. “The workshops get crowded because people do not change their car plates as per the dates given to them and then they come on days when others have appointments,” Al Kharji said. The issue can be resolved if everyone comes on their due dates, he added. The official said that since the early 1980s, the traffic department has changed the design of car number plates a number of times. “Now the department prefers the European model of number plates because it shows the numbers clearly from a distance,” Al Kharji said. Giving the example of Al Duhail workshop, he said the workshop was changing 700 to 800 new plates effectively on a daily basis. “This workshop has six production lines that work simultaneously, one of which is kept only for heavy vehicles,” the director said, adding that their strategy has been helpful for both his department and the public. In a move to increase road safety, the traffic department is planning to launch new radars to monitor drivers who overtake from the right side. “School buses will soon be provided with new radars, which will be fixed in buses, to monitor drivers who overtake the school buses when they stop,” Al Kharji said. The Peninsula

Follow us on our social media channels: @ILQlive @ILQlive @ILoveQtr ILoveQatar