Dubai. Roads and Transport Authority. 18th August 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.
Box: Competition Categories
Category 1: Individuals and University Students
- Best Road Safety Awareness Film on Safe Driving
AED 30,000 for first place, AED 20,000 for second place and AED 10,000 for third place.
- Best Innovative Road Safety Awareness Film Using Modern Technologies
AED 30,000 for first place, AED 20,000 for second place and AED 10,000 for third place.
Category 2: Government Entities and Private-Sector Companies
- Recognition Award for Government-Sector Efforts in Road Safety
Recognition trophy. - Recognition Award for Private-Sector Efforts in Road Safety
Recognition trophy.
Category 3: Community
- Best Family Road Safety Awareness Film, a category introduced in line with the Year of Family. AED 30,000 for first place, AED 20,000 for second place and AED 10,000 for third place.
- Traffic Accident Victims Category – for the most impactful films:
AED 30,000 for first place, AED 20,000 for second place and AED 10,000 for third place.
