“The ministry is ready to do anything that may help cut down the number of car accidents involving women teachers,” said Sulaiman Al-Kiraidah, director of teachers affairs at the Ministry of Education.

He said the ministry is currently trying to reduce the number of small schools by combining them into larger ones.

“This measure will help women teachers and students get to schools safely. They will not have to travel long distances and risk accidents,” he said.

Al-Kiraidah said the ministry had previously adopted the idea of building housing units for women teachers in remote areas. The teachers did not welcome the idea because they did not want to stay away from their families.

He added that the ministry requires that women teachers live within an 80-kilometer radius from their schools so they do not need to commute long distances every day.

The National Committee for Traffic Safety announced in a statistical report that there were 6.2 traffic accidents for every 100 women teachers over the past three years.

“This is a high ratio compared to the normal ratio of four accidents for every 100 people during the same period,” it said.

Saud Al-Othman, director of administration at the Saudi Red Crescent in Riyadh, said traffic accidents involving women teachers and students were mostly caused by burst tires, speeding, bad weather and careless driving.

He added that the traffic police, the road safety police, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health and the Red Crescent are responsible for not properly monitoring vehicles and punishing violators.