The Madinah Traffic Department knows how to treat members of the public, especially visitors to the city. Traffic police in this city are known to detain university teachers, doctors, engineers, businessmen and even city officials. They have deprived visitors the opportunity to see their relatives and shown inhospitality to outsiders.
Teenagers in the city now hate the Traffic Department, whose name is always associated with injustice and unfair treatment. The department is strict and known to apply rules and regulations stringently; this means violators will be jailed or fined on the spot without any leeway. It is also known not to accept excuses.
The Kingdom’s traffic law states that drivers caught speeding or running red lights should be fined or jailed, or, if the violation is severe, then fined and jailed. The Madinah Traffic Department, however, is the only department in the Kingdom, which issues both types of punishment at once. It is the only Traffic Department that flexes its muscles like this.
The traffic police are there to guide people, not to annoy them and cause further confusion.
We all know that all officials in Madinah are keen to ensure people live comfortable lives. However, if a citizen or a resident runs a red light or is caught speeding, the Traffic Department acts as if the person in question has committed the worst of all crimes. Violators are detained for 24 hours, and fined without any due consideration to their health, family circumstances and financial status. I feel there is a need to apply laws, but this should be done in a professional fashion.
The Madinah Traffic Department’s detention center looks like a jail. Officials should visit it and see for themselves how people suffer there. Why is the Madinah Traffic Department punishing people in both ways when the law states they should only hand out one type of punishment unless the violation in question is severe?
In developed countries, officials try to spread the spirit of civic responsibility and the public and the traffic police work together to ensure order on the streets.
This cannot happen in the Kingdom unless the Traffic Department changes its ways. I wish the authorities set up traffic courts where people could lodge complaints and defend themselves.
