BURAIDAH, 1 August 2003 — A group of stray camels caused the death of a Saudi as his car hit one of them on the Hunaithel-Abalworood road in the Al-Asyah governorate here Wednesday night. Al-Asyah is in the northeast of Al-Qasim, about 65 kilometers from Buraidah.
Saleh Mashi Al-Harbi died instantly when his Datsun car collided head-on with the black camel in the middle of the road, causing his car to veer off the road before hitting another passing car. The driver of the other car and his companions were unhurt.
Ironically, the car hit by Al-Harbi’s Datsun was carrying two camels, both of which were safe.
“It is tragic,” said one policeman at the scene of the accident, laying the blame on camel owners who leave them unattended next to the road. “Stray camels are responsible for taking the lives of many Saudi drivers along our roads,” he said and added that severe punishment should be imposed on the owners of stray camels.
Traffic accidents caused by camels in Saudi Arabia are frequent, and 90 percent of them occur at night, Dr. Ali ibn Saeed Al-Ghamdi, the chairman of the National Committee for Traffic Safety, told Arab News.
“Limited visibility during night driving is a major problem, and it is difficult to avoid hitting a camel when someone is driving at a speed of more than 100 km an hour.”
Al-Ghamdi said a quarter of a million accidents occurred annually on Saudi roads leaving thousands of people dead or injured. “Thirty-three percent of traffic accidents are caused by tire bursts and about 10,000 buses are involved in accidents,” added Al-Ghamdi, explaining that accidents caused by heavy vehicles were among the most catastrophic.
