Abu Haimed said Saher at present is only issuing fines to motorists who speed and run red lights. He added that starting Ramadan (August), fines will be issued for not wearing seat belts, stopping over zebra crossings and turning at red lights.

Responding to the complaint of a motorist who claims he received an SMS text message informing him he had parked on a zebra crossing, Abu Haimed said, “No violations are being issued for anything other than running red lights or speeding.”

He added that awareness campaigns about the Kingdom’s traffic laws are currently taking place in the media and in schools, universities and colleges. “Not being aware of the law does not mean you will not be penalized,” said Abu Haimed, adding that traffic laws have always existed and that anyone with a license should be aware of them.

Even expatriate drivers who have licenses issued from their home countries, he said, have to go through procedures to acquire Saudi licenses which include learning about the Kingdom’s traffic laws.

Saher covers major cities in the Kingdom and uses a network of digital cameras linked to the Ministry of Interior’s National Information Center.

According to the Traffic Department’s statistics, 9 million traffic violations take place in the Kingdom every year with over SR13 billion worth of damage to property.