By Rumana Shaikh

With Reporting by Noor Odeh

To reduce speeding inside Education City, Qatar Foundation has installed portable speed cameras to monitor speed limits on campus.

The cameras were installed with permission from the Ministry of Interior (MOI), because of the frequent car accidents that occur in EC, said Khamis Al-Qahtani, the security manager for Qatar Foundation.

“We used to have two, three or even five accidents per day,” Al-Qahtani said. The cameras ensure that students drive at the 40 kilometers per hour speed limit.

Although the speed limit on most roads in EC is 40 kilometers per hour, the cameras only flash cars going faster than 50 kilometers per hour, Al-Qahtani said.

The portable cameras are often moved around the campus and positioned at different locations. These include long stretches of road such as the one leading to Majlis Al-Janoubi (male residence halls), the road to the ceremonial court parking lot and the road near the ceremonial entrance to EC.

When a driver receives a speeding ticket, the violation shows up on the MOI website in the same way that those made outside Education City do.

Chantelle D’mello, a student at Northwestern University in Qatar received several tickets for speeding inside Education City. “The speed limits are exceedingly low. Also, we’re students. We can’t afford to pay the fines,” she said.

While some students are enraged at having to drive slower than usual and pay large amounts for violations, others think that the new cameras might help ensure safer driving inside Education City.

Sama Abduljawad, another student at NU-Q, received two speeding tickets while driving in EC. She was fined 500 Qatari Riyals for driving at a speed of 53 kilometers per hour and 750 Qatari Riyals at 75 kilometers per hour.

“Getting a ticket is obviously annoying, but I was way above the speed limit. However, I think having the radars on campus really ensures safer roads,” Abduljawad said.