Speaking at a Shoura session on Sunday, he said the Saher system was passed by a technical committee that was not specialized in enacting regulations. He asked whether the system was aimed at protecting lives or making money exploiting drivers’ mistakes.

“We should have adequate infrastructure facilities before introducing the system. Many roads and streets lacked speed-limit signs,” Al-Watan Arabic daily quoted Bakri as saying at the Shoura session. He also claimed that sudden change in speed could obstruct traffic flow.

Several complaints have been raised against the Saher, which was introduced last year to cut down growing number of road accidents in the country.

Saudi Arabia has one of the largest accident rates in the world. As many as 6,485 people died and more than 36,000 were injured in over 485,000 traffic accidents during 2008 and 2009.

Mufleh Al-Qahtani, president of the National Society for Human Rights, said his organization received a number of complaints and grievances from the public against the Saher system.

“We need more transparency in the way the system registers traffic violations,” the human rights chief said. “The driver of the vehicle should be informed of the violation and the fine slapped on him immediately using modern telecommunication means,” he added.

Some drivers have complained that fines slapped by the automatic Saher system were higher than what has been mentioned in the law. Some others said they did not know where to reduce speed due to the lack of proper signboards and guidelines.

Earlier, Grand Mufti Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh opposed the traffic department’s move to charge double the fine on those who delay payment, saying it was tantamount to interest. “Doubling the fine is interest and should not be applied even if its objective is to prevent traffic violations,” the mufti said.

In this regard, Abdul Rahman Al-Enad, another Shoura member, called for the cancellation of a paragraph in the traffic law that allows police to charge the maximum fine on those who delay the payment.

Abdul Ghani Al-Ansari, chairman of the Social Responsibility Council in Madinah, called for gradual implementation of Saher after conducting adequate public awareness campaigns.

“I am not against the system but it should be implemented gradually.”