My son was penalized by the Traffic Department recently. It often happens that fathers, whose sons are punished by the traffic police, try and make contact with officials at the Traffic Department to help their sons, who are generally taken to a detention center. However, I did not know that trying to use the influence of someone inside the department to set my son free was against the law.
What happened to my son is not the issue here. He has told me that, like other youth, he was stopped in spite of driving within the speed limit. I know my son. He is not among those who speed.
The issue is the traffic penal system in the Kingdom, which is unlike any other in the world. Many of us have traveled abroad and seen the way traffic violations are treated in other countries. There the penal system is gradual, unlike the system here where they take you from your car to a detention center. The method of punishment here psychologically affects people and hampers their daily life.
In America, for example, violations are recorded. For the first violation, a driver would be given a ticket. For the second, the driver would be given another ticket. For the third, the driver could expect a point on his record and so on until he or she accumulates six points. After that the driver could expect his or her license to be revoked for a month. On the eighth violation, the driver could expect to be banned from driving for a year. Drivers also have the right to contest tickets if they feel they have been issued unfairly.
One thing I want to know is whether imprisoning people in detention centers is in line with the Traffic Department’s rules. I also wish the Traffic Department would carry out a survey to ascertain whether detaining people reduces the number of traffic accidents or the number of people speeding on the roads.
I know driving at high speed is deadly and that there is no justification for this. However, what if a driver was taking someone to hospital, or if he is a doctor attending an emergency? Would traffic officials, in such circumstances, understand their situation?
The Traffic Department thinks that holding people in detention centers is the best way to discipline drivers. However, detaining people does not stop them from speeding. They will simply keep an eye out for the cameras, speed radar and traffic police; once the road is clear they would simply speed.
Sometimes, traffic officials fail to catch others who violate rules while they are busy writing people’s fines. They, therefore, end up leaving them. Where is the equality? This type of punishment only leaves people hating traffic officials. Our traffic penal system seriously needs to be reviewed.
