JEDDAH, 8 February — Plainclothes officers in Jeddah police have booked nearly 20,000 motorists for traffic violations in a four-month period, according to a top official.
The most frequent of the 19,250 cases registered from Sept. 28 to Jan. 25 were jumping of red lights, driving in wrong direction and reckless driving, said Lt. Col. Muhammad Al-Qahtani, assistant director of the Traffic Department in Jeddah.
Explaining the mode operation by the secret agents, he said they carry special ID cards, do not wear police uniform and travel in private cars in order to outwit unscrupulous drivers.
When a violation is spotted, the officer notes down the registration number of the car, time of the violation and a description of the driver if available, he said. The official immediately informs the traffic directorate of the violation on mobile phone or on the internal communication system.
Then the directorate summons the violator and decides appropriate penalty. If the drives refuses to admit his crime, his case is handed over to a special traffic committee which meets twice a week.
The committee, which calls in both the violator and the plainclothes officer who reported the case for further inquiries, comprises directors of roads division and accident wing and a secretary.
Parents concerned
Meanwhile, reports from Al-Mujamma say that parents are alarmed by the increasing number of accidents involving girls students from the Al-Oula primary and intermediate schools. The parents demand immediate intervention by the authorities to shift the school gate from a busy main road to a side road.
The school has four gates, one of them facing Prince Salman Road which usually have heavy traffic as most of the government offices in the town are located along it.
A girl studying in the primary section was killed and many others were seriously injured in a series of accidents involving students from the school.
The parents also blame the school administration for closing down a gate which faced a secondary street. The gate was built following a fatal accident earlier.
