The traffic department will impose a SR300 fine on those who are found to be driving without insurance. The announcement was made by the director general of the department, Col. Fahad Al-Bisher, who said that there were 133,000 violations in 1424 by those without insurance. He suggested that the number of violations was due to the recent introduction of the requirement. He went on to say that insurance had been successful because the number of drivers held in jail after accidents had fallen. He noted further that insurance had forced many people to become safer drivers and that the increase in accidents was due to a rise in population.

There are many problems with what the colonel said. When he said that there were 133,000 violations for not having insurance, this indicates a problem between individual drivers and the traffic department. How can this be the case when insurance is a necessity if a person wishes to get or renew a license to drive? I think there are other contradictions in his comments. How can he say that insurance has made people drive more safely when the rate of accidents has increased — and is still increasing? How can he prove that the increase in traffic accidents is due to the increase in population? Does he mean that when the population increases, the number of car owners will also increase?

I think what we really need is strict enforcement of our traffic laws. We need officials to supervise enforcement. Where are our police officers? We seldom see them doing their jobs at schools, hospitals, universities or around roundabouts. We cannot compare ourselves with America or Europe but at least we can look at neighboring countries such as Bahrain, the UAE and Oman as examples of countries with strict enforcement of traffic laws. Most Saudis are not familiar with traffic laws; even foreign drivers are unfamiliar with local traffic laws. Can we put an end to drivers running red lights, or driving the wrong way in a one-way street? We also desperately need to stop drivers from using mobile phones while driving. According to statistics, many accidents have occurred because of drivers talking on mobile phones. What we need is to enforce the laws and in order to do that properly, we need officials to supervise the enforcement.