DUBAI, 18th August, 2026 (WAM) -- Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has launched the second edition of the Road Safety Film Festival, offering prizes worth up to AED300,000, including cash awards and recognition trophies, with sponsorship from Azizi Developments.
The launch follows the success of the inaugural edition in 2025, which attracted more than 100 entries featuring innovative ideas and content promoting road safety awareness.
The competition aims to encourage safe road behaviour through short awareness films that promote compliance with traffic laws and reduce dangerous practices. It is open to individuals, university students, government entities, private-sector companies and community members.
RTA will accept entries from 24th August to 22nd November, 2026, through its website, which provides participation requirements, submission procedures, evaluation criteria and competition categories.
Hussain Al Banna, CEO of RTA's Traffic and Roads Agency, said the competition supports RTA's efforts to develop traffic awareness tools and extend their reach across the community, noting that short films are particularly effective in delivering awareness messages through digital platforms and social media.
He added that the strong response to the first edition demonstrated the potential of creative visual content to support traffic awareness, while the second edition provides greater opportunities for talent and innovative ideas.
Entries will be accepted across three main categories: Individuals and University Students; Government Entities and Private-Sector Companies; and Community. The categories cover safe driving, innovative use of modern technologies, family road safety and real-life stories involving traffic accident victims.
Cash prizes for the first and third categories total AED240,000. Winners will receive AED30,000 for first place, AED20,000 for second and AED10,000 for third across each subcategory. Government and private-sector winners will receive recognition trophies.
Al Banna said the Community category includes an award for films featuring real-life stories of traffic accident victims, highlighting the consequences of unsafe behaviour and reinforcing individual and collective responsibility on the road.
RTA said visual campaigns can strengthen road safety messages, particularly when combining human stories with factual information about accidents and injuries to discourage speeding, mobile phone use while driving and failure to wear seat belts.
The winning films will be incorporated into RTA's traffic awareness programmes, including educational lectures, workshops, road safety campaigns and digital platforms, extending the reach and impact of their messages.
The festival forms part of RTA's Traffic Safety and Awareness Strategy, underpinned by the "Zero Fatalities" vision, which aims to strengthen Dubai's road safety performance through an integrated and sustainable awareness framework.
The strategy includes specialised programmes for students, truck drivers and delivery riders, developed in cooperation with Dubai Police, government entities and strategic partners. It also supports improvements to pedestrian crossings, directional signage, pedestrian bridges and other road safety infrastructure.
Among RTA's student awareness initiatives 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 conducts campaigns for truck drivers and delivery riders, including the "Safe and Healthy Summer" campaign.
The strategy aims to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries by combining awareness, education, safe road design and coordination among relevant entities.