KHAMIS MUSHAYIT: A Saudi man in this southern Saudi city was finally forced to cough up SR45,000 for about 300 traffic violations, according to yesterday’s Al-Madinah newspaper. The daily quoted the assistant to the director of the Traffic Department in Asir province, Col. Hanash Al-Shihri as saying the citizen, who was not identified, had to pay the entire amount of the fines before he could renew his tags. The newspaper did not specify the nature of the violations but said they were all registered against the car he has owned for 10 years. “There is no way any of the violations will be canceled,” he said. Considering the driving culture in Saudi Arabia — which can resemble scenes from the 1979 post-apocalyptic car dueling thriller “Mad Max” — it’s wonderful to hear a traffic official say that.
