I read an entertaining comment in Jeddah Today 2001. "Driving... after a week here you won’t want to — unless you are the sort of thrill-seeker whose adrenaline merely flickers on a roller-coaster and who thinks you’d do a much better job than Michael Schumacher if only you had the chance."

In fact, never has it been more dangerous to drive around on our city streets. A typical journey will involve any or all of the following:

A head bumping up/down trek over speed bumps higher than what is legally allowed, swerving around potholes sprinkled on the streets from incorrect asphalting, a jarring drive through a certain section of a road that is being raked in preparation for asphalting — never done during the summer of course but at the start of the school year for maximum inconvenience to the maximum number of people, praying that the guy zigzagging around the cars to get to the traffic light first will miss your car. Then a puzzled glance at the car traveling down the road with its reverse lights on is followed by a hasty reduction of your speed as the water trucks come barreling down the road in a bid to get to the water station first. Adrenaline starts racing through your system along with the trucks — that is if the first part hadn’t already started it — only to receive another jolt by the brakes being slammed on at a traffic light you can’t see because someone had decided it would be fun to plant a tree obstructing the light. A breather to recover from that particular fright and a glance ahead shows the remnants of a street light that has been chopped off in midsection and has been bent — perhaps by a car — so that its dangerously pointed edge is now directed right at you. Thanking God that you were able to see it before traveling down that road, you make a left turn, only to arrive at an unmarked dead end as a local resident, wishing to have some extra parking space or relief from the sound of cars whizzing by, has decided to claim the street for himself. Is it any wonder that road rage is on the increase?

With this in mind, it is without a single doubt that the introduction of the seat belt law for the nth time came at an opportune time and provided for our revamped traffic police force, their first challenge. Along with their new look, they approached this law in an innovative way: The posters came out and the traffic police was launched onto the streets like an army of ants, concentrating on traffic lights, where they proceeded to instruct anyone who wasn’t buckled up to do so. Fast-food companies joined in the campaign — satisfying two appetites: one for food and the other for the hilarious. McDonald’s gave vouchers to drivers seen wearing their seat belt and Al-Baik launched their "Tuk-Takka" campaign showing a chicken with its seat belt on. Overall, the new approach was a resounding success; it is rare today to see a driver not wearing his seat belt.

But while hoping that the seat belt law will reduce the number of traffic fatalities in the country, it is important to remember that this is not the end of the journey. On the contrary, it is merely the beginning. The question is whether the traffic police will continue on the warpath as forcefully as they began the campaign.

In no particular order — and this is certainly not a comprehensive list — there is the matter of the so-called "death seat," the seat next to the driver, the occupant of which rarely uses a seat belt. The risks of injury and death in that seat are equal to and sometimes even greater than those of the driver. So it is imperative for the passenger to wear his seat belt and moreover, for the driver to insist that his passenger does as well. Another matter is the importance of a car seat for infants from up to four years old. In the West, it is illegal to drive a car if the infant is not in a car seat even on the trip home from the hospital. That should be no less important here. The car seat is a necessity rather than a luxury. Just as dangerous are parents who allow their children to sit in their laps at the wheel of the car. In case of an accident, the child acts like a small air bag for the parent who thus sacrifices the life of his child and saves himself.

Hot on the heels of the seat belt campaign came the drive to organize traffic at roundabouts — which has so far been a shambles. I wonder if clarifying the fact that right turns on red are not obligatory and are only allowed if the road is clear is on the list of things to be done. No doubt the authorities have their own schedule for dealing with all these issues and in due course, all will be dealt with. I certainly hope so.