JEDDAH, 22 March 2005 — Shoura Council member Osama Kurdi has said that the consultative body will soon discuss the new traffic law. The security affairs committee has finished discussing the draft law and presented it to the council.
An official source at the traffic department described the new law as “comprehensive and more flexible”. The source said that the articles in the new law are very clear. According to him, one of the main articles cancels the present practice of imprisonment for all traffic violations. The new law spares the driver from serving jail terms and instead stipulates fines and seizure of vehicles depending on the kind of violation.
Traffic police officer’s job will be limited to dealing with accidents and determining who is guilty and leaves the financial punishment to the department concerned.
The source said that under the new law traffic courts specialized in solving traffic cases would be set up. Currently, personnel who will man such courts are being trained in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.
Under the modified law, motorbike license would be good for 10 years and erring motorists would accumulate points for each traffic violation committed. If 18 traffic points are accumulated in a year, then punishments such as jail sentence or cancellation of license would be applied.
The new law makes it strictly mandatory for all drivers and children to use seat belts. The law includes a recommendation to establish an international racing club in the Kingdom under the aegis of the International Racing Federation.
