JEDDAH: Three brothers, all students, lost their lives when a jeep ran over them and hit nine others after colliding with a water tanker near their schools in the northern city of Qurayat.

The incident took place as the students were returning home from Abu Mousa Al-Ashaari School and Hassan bin Thabit Intermediate School. The 16-year-old driver of the vehicle was allegedly joyriding.

The jeep, the teenager was driving, drifted toward the students after it rammed into the tanker about 650 meters west of the schools.

Marzouk bin Mulfi Al-Khenjar, director of education in Al-Jouf province, visited the injured students at Qurayat General Hospital and conveyed condolences on behalf of Education Minister Abdullah Al-Obaid to the bereaved families.

Joyriding has become commonplace in the Kingdom with teenagers often performing stunts in public places to draw the attention of onlookers, especially during holidays and school examinations. The stunts often lead to accidents.

Police routinely keep a watch on teenage drivers in an attempt to prevent joyriding and protect people from accidents.

A new traffic law, approved by the Cabinet, deems joyriding a traffic violation. People involved in joyriding for the first time will have their cars seized for 15 days and fined SR1,000, according to the new law.

The new law states: “If the offense is committed the second time, vehicles will be seized for a month and a fine of SR1,500 would be slapped. Third-time offenders would be fined SR2,000 and their cars would be impounded.”

A young military officer, Faisal Al-Otaibi, popularly known as Abu Kab, is facing death sentence for allegedly killing three passengers in a joyriding exploit that went horribly wrong. He has appealed against the court verdict. The high-profile case of Abu Kab — “the guy with the cap” — began in late 2005 when the young naval officer rented a car and took four young boys with him joyriding.

Abu Kab tried a drifting stunt at 120 kmph that resulted in a crash and caused the death of his three passengers.

According to legal experts, this is the first time a joyrider has been sentenced to death.

In similar cases, joyriders have been sentenced to jail for periods ranging from six months to one year and asked to pay blood money.