JEDDAH: A black Lexus sped down Al-Malik Road in Jeddah and skidded almost 360 degrees yesterday afternoon. The tires burned against the concrete. Fortunately, there was no car crash, no injuries and no harm done; it was a scene for a TV advertisement that is part of an awareness campaign to highlight the new automatic traffic violation system named Sahir.
“There’s been 6,000 deaths a year as a result of car accidents,” said Kaswara Al-Khatib, managing director of Full Stop Advertising, which is handling the campaign. “Not only that, but 30,000 injuries also result from accidents.”
Al-Khatib said he chose Al-Malik Road (nicknamed “Death Road”) because so many youngsters have been killed speeding on it. He told Arab News that this is the first of the campaign’s three phases. First, they will broadcast the advertisements on MBC, Saudi TV and Rotana.
The next phase will include words of advice from well-known speakers, such as Sheikh Salman Al-Oadah, supervisor of the Islam Today website, and footballer Yasser Al-Qahtani.
“The third part of the ad campaign will focus on Sahir,” said Al-Khatib. “We need to shock people to wake up.”
Sahir is a new electronic monitoring system to register traffic violations. It relies on a network of digital cameras linked to a database. Surveillance cameras placed at traffic lights and other strategic locations will relay violations to a main center. The center will in turn assess the type of violation and electronically issue penalties.
Gen. Fahd Al-Bishr, head of the Traffic Department, was quoted as saying last month that one person dies every 90 minutes and another is injured every 25 minutes on the Kingdom’s roads. He pointed out that more than nine million traffic violations are registered in the Kingdom each year. As a result, the authorities are introducing Sahir.
People clustered around Malik Road waiting in anticipation for the filming of the accident scene. There was the Red Crescent, an ambulance, the police and the Civil Defense at hand. Abu Khaled, a man in his 30s among the crowds, said that it is about time that Sahir is part of the system.
“How high should the death rate go before people understand the deadly consequences of speeding or violating traffic rules?” he said.
Nuha Ahmed, a 25-year-old accountant who was present at the shoot, said the roads would be safer with the new system. “We go on and on about how women can’t drive in Saudi Arabia. How about making the roads safe first then considering women as drivers?” said Nuha.
Abdullah Al-Ahmadi, 33, said that there should be more scrutiny of who should be allowed to drive.
“There should be zero tolerance from police officers of people running red lights or violating road rules,” said Al-Ahmadi, who lost a nephew in a car crash a few years ago. “Drivers are careless about others’ lives.”
Preparations for the advertisement campaign started two weeks ago. Al-Khatib said that this is the biggest shooting to take place so far in Saudi Arabia. A crew of stunt men, directors, and cameramen from different nationalities, including Saudis, was put together to make this happen.
The campaign is part of Full Stop Advertising’s public service announcement initiative that is intended to modify people’s attitude by raising awareness about different issues.
When asked about personal motivation, Al-Khatib said this is his country and he wishes to make change happen.
“It took me some time to realize what Allah created me for. I want to make a change. We need to shape people up,” said Al-Khatib.
