JEDDAH, 23 November — Police have detected more than 700 traffic violations, mostly speeding, on highways leading to Makkah and Madinah using special cameras. They have also monitored 120 daily violations of crossing into the central lane reserved for emergency use, especially during the hours leading up to iftar. As a result, one Saudi has been killed and two others are in hospital with severe injuries after a number of accidents on the highway during the first week of Ramadan.
Col. Abdul Aziz Al-Obailan, director of Jeddah traffic, announced that violators have been informed of their offenses monitored by the camera were fined up to SR900. Obailan added that his department has deployed four more patrol cars with secret cameras.
Brig. Muhammad Al-Qahtani, assistant traffic director in the city, warned young people against the danger of using the central reservation area that separates traffic coming from different directions.
"This area is reserved for emergency use by ambulances and traffic police," he clarified.
Qahtani expected a tremendous increase in traffic to the Two Holy Mosques as Ramadan proceeded and an equal rise in traffic violations. He urged the public refrain from speeding for their own safety.
According to a recent study, speeding was the cause of 42 percent of accidents in the Kingdom during the past 30 years.
Col. Ayed Al-Malky, head of the information committee of the traffic awareness campaign in the Makkah region, said the ongoing campaign would focus on the two main causes of accidents: speeding and drug addiction.
"Deaths from road accidents have reached an alarming rate in our country. Their number has exceeded the number of deaths in wars in many others," he Al-Malky said.
He said more than 87,000 people were killed and about 65,000 were handicapped by road accidents between 1970 and 2000.
Al-Malky said reckless driving and a general disregard of traffic regulations were the other main causes of the accidents.
"About 78 percent of the accident victims were aged below 45, and 40 percent were under 25," he added.
In light this dramatic increase in the accident rate, the Council of Ministers has decided to enforce mandatory third-party insurance on all vehicles in the country in stages. The new law will be applied a year after its publication in the official gazette.
The Cabinet meeting also decided to allow licensed cooperative insurance companies in the Kingdom to provide car insurance. However, it insisted that such companies should have the required capabilities and must comply with the Kingdom’s car insurance standards.
The car insurance will cover vehicles, property, death and damages to victims of an accident in which the insured party is involved, a reliable source said.
Several studies have revealed that most drivers involved in accidents are unable to pay damages. These drivers remain in prison until their obligations are met. There are about six million cars in Saudi Arabia.
The new measure is significant in relation to the number of road accidents in the Kingdom, which has one of the highest rates in the world. Traffic accidents kill at least 3,000 people and injure more than 26,000 annually and result in a loss of more than SR7 billion.
