RIYADH, 11 September 2006 — The traffic campaign entitled “Enough” ended recently without even touching on the problems related to drivers who flout traffic laws by using their cell phones when driving, Al-Jazirah newspaper reported.
Drivers who use cell phones when driving are attributed to have caused countless accidents and deaths of many people across the Kingdom. Saudis, however, complain that the recent awareness campaign ended without discussing the resentment many people have about drivers who use their cell phones.
“Driving while using cell phones makes roads unsafe. The roads are bad enough already with many drivers obsessed with speeding and illiterate drivers who do not know how to read traffic signs,” said Saleh Anwar, a Saudi who works in the private sector.
“What I don’t understand is why the police don’t even bother enforcing fines on cell phone users? If they think that driving while using a cell phone is fine then I think they should abolish speed limits. Countries in Europe and America have massive campaigns to fight the problem and impose fines on people. I do not know how many accidents there has to be and how many lives need to be lost before the traffic police prohibit driving with cell phones?” said Anwar.
Even mosques are complaining about the widespread use of cell phones by worshippers in mosques. “How do you expect to stop people from using their phones when driving when even the imams can’t stop them using their phones in the mosques,” said Hussain Feroz.
Warning stickers and posters, in both Arabic and English, outside mosques across the Kingdom urging people to switch off their cell phones have been shown to be ineffective. Many Friday preachers feel frustrated at being interrupted during the Friday sermon as a worshipper’s cell phone goes off playing the tone of gangster rappers like Snoop Doggie Dog.
“The best way to put an end to all this is by having a strict and severe punishment in place. People need to be fined and the rules need to be implemented if we want to save lives and make a difference,” said Feroz.
Sultan Al-Otaibi was injured in a car crash caused by a driver who was using his cell phone. “Drivers use their mobile phones day and night while driving. Drivers who don’t use their cell phones can easily be noticed because most people are used to seeing drivers holding their cell phones in one hand and holding the steering wheel with the other,” he said.
“A man has only one heart and cannot focus on two things at the same time. The minds of drivers are completely off the road and focusing on the people on the other line. Not only drivers do this, even traffic officials are using their cell phones. A lot of drivers use this to justify their own use of cell phones — this is especially the case since such drivers never receive traffic tickets,” he added.
Across the world, people who drive and use their cell phones are facing the reality of stiff punishments and are now slowly becoming aware of the dangers related to using cell phones when driving.
People across Saudi Arabia are calling for a fatwa (religious edict) against the use of cell phones inside mosques and when driving. Worshippers complain that they have grown weary of reminding people to switch their cell phones off when inside the mosque. May be a fatwa may help bring an end to this problem.
The incidents of people’s cell phones ringing in the mosques keep growing and so does the number of people who die in car crashes as a result of mobile phones. Many Saudis hope that the same fine that was imposed on people who do not wear their seat belts may also be implemented on people who use their cell phones when driving. This is the only practical way of making our roads safe.
