RTA Launches 2nd Road Safety Film Festival with AED 300,000 in Prizes

Dubai , August 18, 2026 : Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced the launch
of the second edition of the Road Safety Film Festival, with total prizes
of up to AED 300,000, including cash awards and recognition trophies,
and sponsored by Azizi Developments. The launch follows the success
of the festival’s inaugural edition, launched by RTA in 2025, which
attracted more than 100 creative entries, showcasing a diverse range of
innovative ideas and content in road safety awareness.
The competition aims to promote awareness of safe road behaviours
through the production of short awareness films that cultivate a culture of
compliance with traffic laws and regulations and reduce dangerous road
behaviours. It also provides individuals, university students, government
entities and private-sector companies with an opportunity to present
creative and impactful ideas that spread awareness across broader
community segments.
RTA will begin accepting entries from 24th August to 22nd November
2026 through its website at www.rta.ae/roadsafetyfilmfestival, which
sets out the participation requirements, submission process, evaluation
criteria and competition categories.
Hussain Al Banna, CEO of RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency, said the
competition forms part of RTA’s efforts to develop its traffic awareness
tools and broaden their reach across different segments of the
community. He noted that short films are among the most effective
means of delivering awareness messages, particularly amid the growing
reach of digital platforms and social media.
Al Banna added that the success of the festival’s first edition, which
attracted more than 100 entries, highlights the importance of
harnessing creativity and visual content to support traffic awareness
efforts. He noted that the second edition builds on this approach by
providing greater scope for talent and innovative ideas and encouraging
the community to contribute to promoting a culture of road safety.

Al Banna added that entries will be accepted across three main
categories: Individuals and University Students; Government
Entities and Private-Sector Companies; and Community. These
categories include subcategories covering awareness of the leading
causes of traffic accidents, the promotion of safe driving behaviours and
the portrayal of real-life stories from the community.
He explained that the prizes for the top three places in the first and third
categories are AED 30,000 for first place, AED 20,000 for second place
and AED 10,000 for third place, with total cash prizes of AED 240,000.
Winners in the Government Entities and Private-Sector Companies
category will receive recognition trophies.
Al Banna added that RTA has allocated a prize within the Community
category for films featuring real-life stories of traffic accident victims, with
the aim of highlighting the consequences of unsafe behaviours and
failure to comply with traffic regulations, while reinforcing individual and
collective responsibility on the road.
The initiative is aligned with global trends supporting the use of visual
content in road safety awareness. Campaigns supported by visual
materials can communicate messages more effectively, particularly when
human stories are combined with factual information relating to accidents
and injuries, serving to curb dangerous behaviours such as speeding,
using mobile phones while driving and failing to wear seat belts.
The CEO of RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency confirmed that RTA will
incorporate the winning films into its ongoing traffic awareness
programmes by featuring them in educational lectures, workshops, road
safety campaigns and across RTA’s digital platforms, thereby extending
the reach of the awareness messages and sustaining their impact.
The second edition of the festival forms part of RTA’s Traffic Safety and
Awareness Strategy, which is underpinned by the “Zero Fatalities” vision
and aims to drive Dubai and the UAE toward achieving some of the
world’s best road safety performance levels. This is supported by
developing an integrated and sustainable awareness framework
targeting different categories of road users and promoting safe and
responsible road behaviours.
RTA’s Traffic Safety and Awareness Strategy focuses on delivering
specialised awareness programmes and initiatives targeting key groups,
including students, truck drivers and delivery riders, in cooperation and
partnership with Dubai Police, government entities and strategic
partners. It further seeks to enhance safety in residential and school areas by developing pedestrian crossings, directional signage,
pedestrian bridges and other solutions that support road safety.
The strategy’s overarching objective is to reduce traffic fatalities and
serious injuries and work towards providing a safe and sustainable traffic
environment for all road users by combining awareness and education
with safe road design and integrated efforts among the relevant entities.
Among RTA’s key awareness programmes for students are the “Golden
Rules for Generational Safety” programme for middle-school students,
the “Hello, My School” programme for kindergarten pupils and the
“Virtual Driving Licence” programme for secondary-school students. RTA
also runs specialised campaigns targeting truck drivers and delivery
riders, including the “Safe and Healthy Summer” campaign for delivery
riders and joint inspection initiatives aimed at reducing violations and
dangerous road behaviours.