Parking of trucks and other heavy vehicles within residential areas is a traffic violation punishable under the law, Maj. Gen. Zaid Al-Hamzi, spokesman for Jeddah Traffic Directorate, has asserted.
Speaking to Arab News, he said sustained monitoring of residential areas had yielded results and it was found that about 200 buses, trucks, bulldozers, diggers and other heavy vehicles were parked for over three months in Al-Saheifah, Al-Marwa, Al-Balad and Al-Mohammadiyah neighborhoods.
Advising heavy vehicle owners to ensure that they are parked outside residential areas, he said penalties had been slapped on violators. The penalties, he said, ranged between SR1,000 and SR1,500 for the first violation while in the case of second offenders, the vehicle will be impounded.
A joint committee comprising officials from various government establishments including Jeddah municipality had been set up to curb this menace.
Residents of Al-Marwa and Al-Mohammadiyah neighborhoods told Arab News that they were annoyed by the presence of heavy vehicles parking within residential areas because not only do they add to pollution but also spoil how the neighborhood looks.
They urged Jeddah Traffic Department and the municipality to impose strict controls on these vehicles and move them away from residential areas. Owners of these vehicles don’t care about people’s comfort and park their vehicles within residential areas for long periods of time, they pointed out.
Khalid and Rami Al-Jahni, residents of Al-Mohammadiyah neighborhood in Jeddah, said drivers of trucks and heavy machinery vehicles had turned residential areas into parking places, which was in violation of the residents’ privacy and rights. They hoped that the authorities will act before the situation worsens.
They wondered if there was a traffic law that prevents parking trucks in residential areas, especially for long periods of time, and if it does exist, why was it then not being implemented.
They said even petrol tankers are parked in residential areas, which is like a time bomb for the residents. All drivers of these trucks are single expatriate men who live in the neighborhood next to families’ homes, which annoys the residents.
They pointed out that a fire had broken out a few days ago in their neighborhood, burning a bus completely, but fortunately no casualties were reported.
Bader said many of these trucks are used for transportation of sand and cement which spill on to the streets in the neighborhood. This pollutes the environment and creates uncomfortable living conditions, especially since these trucks carry more than the permitted weight which also leads road damage.
Mohammad Al-Hazimi said these parking spaces were the handiwork of truck drivers, and the mess in the neighborhoods was due to lack of coordination between relevant authorities in curbing such violations.
Parking of heavy trucks near residential areas a violation of traffic laws
