A child was run over by a car outside a school in a Riyadh suburb. It was not the first such accident and we hope it remains to be the last. News of the accident forces us to ask some questions: Didn’t the driver of the car know that he was passing in front of a school? Motorists usually slow down when driving close to schools. They tend to realize that they are driving in a small road and not on a main highway.
Do we have a pavement for pedestrians on that road? If so then are people using it? If not, then are we teaching people that they should? Are there any traffic officials that stop traffic for pedestrians to cross on that stretch of road? Have similar accidents occurred before? If they have, are we taking lessons from them or not? Why are we using cars to kill ourselves? Are cars a means of transport used to shorten the time it takes to travel distances or to cut short people’s lives?
Many countries not only specify speed limits but also have traffic police monitoring roads to ensure the law is followed and also to catch violators. In those countries, the trucks are very organized and so are the cars. Near schools, you would find people that are stopping traffic to allow children to safely cross.
However, in front of our schools you will see a huge numbers of cars and in each car there is one or two schoolchildren at the most. I remember visiting a high school in France where I hardly saw any cars. I couldn’t even see a parking there. Parents rather had their children using school buses. As for our schools, there is always a rat-race taking place in the morning and in the afternoon when school finishes. The entire situation is unnecessary; we could easily be able to provide a safe means of transportation to our children.
Accidents are on the rise and are also taking place outside schools — a place where there shouldn’t be any problems. Because we don’t have an efficient public transportation system, the number of cars on our roads has dramatically increased over the years.
The problem does not lie in the number of cars on the road. I wish it were the case. The problem lies in the issue of people speeding, violating traffic laws and disrespecting the rights of others. Drivers seem to have a careless attitude when dealing with others. They think themselves to be above the law and feel they cannot be held accountable.
The problem lies in giving teenagers cars. This is the case in families where the father himself probably did not own a car until after he had left university. How many teenagers are there on our streets that do not carry driving licenses? Not only do they have not licenses, but they also drive extremely fast. How many fathers are there who have regretted buying their sons cars after it was far too late.
I think it is about time parents and traffic officials came together to protect the youth from hurting themselves and harming society.
