MADINAH, 24 September 2007 — Working in Ramadan for many people is tough because of the fasting. This is especially the case for members of the Madinah Highway Patrol, which is stationed between Jeddah and Madinah and who spend days away from their family to ensure pilgrims traveling between Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah have a safe journey.
The Madinah Highway Patrol is extra tough these days on violators and speeding drivers, who cause the majority of road accidents. The job of the patrol includes organizing checkpoints and helping stranded motorists. Patrol cars are also fully equipped with fire fighting apparatus, jump leads and first aid kits.
Arab News visited the highway patrol department station 24 km from Madinah to get an overview of how the boys in green spend Ramadan. Officers are on alert 24 hours a day to ensure the safety of travelers. Nevertheless, they take pride in what they do since they are serving the visitors of the two holy mosques.
“During Ramadan we intensify our presence on the highway to ensure the safety of our travelers. During the month of Ramadan, the highway is exceptionally busy with travelers and buses carrying pilgrims to and from Madinah and Makkah,” said Capt. Fahd Al-Badrani, acting director of Highway Patrol on the Makkah-Madinah Highway.
Al-Badrani is in charge of 210 km of the highway, which is the administrational length of the Madinah Province. There are 150 officers on duty daily on this stretch of the road.
“There is one highway patrol unit for each 35 km, which makes it easy for police officers to arrive at accident scene once it is reported. It takes approximately five minutes for the highway patrol unit to arrive at an accident scene,” he added.
According to Al-Badrani, the most important checkpoint is the one located 65 km from Madinah where the most arrests are made. The main job of the highway patrol, he said, is to slow drivers down and fine them if they are caught breaking the law. “The radar stations are changed regularly from one point to another to trace erring drivers. We also deploy secret highway patrol units along the road to arrest speeding drivers,” he said.
“Those traveling at very high speeds will be arrested and handed over to the nearest police station where the car will be seized and the driver fined. If the driver refuses to stop, then an immediate roadblock is put in place to force him to stop. We deal with all sorts of cases including counterfeit goods, drugs, weapon smuggling, terrorism and transporting of overstayers,” he said.
The Highway Patrol coordinates with other departments like the Saudi Red Crescent, conducts studies on the causes of traffic accidents and makes recommendations of how to avoid them in the future.
“One of the biggest difficulties we face is a lack of cooperation from the Ministry of Transportation and their lack of response to our requests to cover some of the holes in the barriers along the side of the road. Some drivers create holes in road barriers to cut through to the other side instead of driving on the road and over bridges to get to the other side,” said Al-Badrani.
“We contact them repeatedly to seal these gaps but they don’t bother responding. These holes also lead animals on to the main road, which causes a lot of accidents. I wish the Ministry of Transportation would take a look at this problem,” he said.
Highway Patrol officers are also required never to leave drivers stranded on the road. They always stop to help stranded motorists with damaged cars, especially elderly drivers. “I remember a story in which a driver left his wife at a gas station and drove off to Madinah. After getting a description of his car, we set up roadblocks and stopped him. We managed to find him. He was shocked that he had forgotten his wife,” said Al-Badrani.
Al-Badrani said that drivers should be careful when driving. “When they feel tired they should stop at a gas station and take some rest instead of continuing to drive and risking their lives and the lives of others,” he said.
