Many of the people concerned were searching for answers to a number of questions about the success of Saher system on economic, social and health levels.
Maybe the most important of these questions is whether Saher is an ideal solution to traffic problems in the Kingdom.
Few months before the implementation of the system in 2010, local and Arab media debated the issue of traffic in the Kingdom.
This campaign was triggered by a five-minute documentary film produced by a young Saudi man named Ala Al-Maktoum who lost his cousin in a traffic accident.
Titled “Street Terror,” the documentary featured some traffic accidents in the Kingdom. Deaths in such incidents usually number more than 6,000 annually.
According to the film, more than 86,000 died in traffic accidents in the Kingdom during the past 20 years, more than the 82,000 deaths caused by the 9/11 attacks, the Desert War, the Indo-Pak War, the Gulf War and the six-day war between Israel and the Arabs put together.
During 2009, 6,458 Saudis died and 36,498 others injured in traffic accidents and more than half a million vehicles damaged, according to the latest official statistical report issued by the department of General Statistics and Information, the sole source of the government’s official statistics according to a royal decree issued more than 50 years ago.
The traffic police’s statistical reports also noted a worrying increase in traffic accidents during the past 10 years, causing material losses of more than SR13 billion and killing 18 people a day — a rate of one death every 90 minutes.
These fearful results prompted the authorities to revamp the traffic regulations, which were then issued under a royal decree in January 1972.
The new traffic system was issued by a royal decree in 2005 including an executive statute of 79 articles. Under these new regulations, the Saher system was to be introduced to monitor traffic violations electronically.
Four months after the implementation of Saher, director of traffic in Riyadh Brig. Abdul Rahman Al-Muqbil issued a statement in September 2010. Quoting statistics from the Ministry of Health and the Red Crescent, he said that deaths caused by traffic accidents dropped by about 38 percent since the system was introduced.
Traffic accidents are not limited to Saudi Arabia alone. The statistics of the World Health Organization (WHO) say traffic accidents accounted for the 10th highest number of deaths in the world.
Traffic electronic monitoring systems were introduced in the world more than 50 years ago. Controlling traffic by cameras was first introduced in Holland in 1960. However, the ability of these systems to control traffic remains debateable, with their benefits still being discussed.
The United States began using cameras to monitor traffic in 1980. Since then, hundreds of pieces of research were conducted, casting doubt on the ability of this type of system to control traffic.
A recent study released in February 2008 said the camera lights might distract the driver for seconds, jeopardizing the lives of other motorists. The study said there was no solid evidence about the effectiveness of the cameras to observe roads and curb accidents.
In the UK, where more than 1.85 million surveillance cameras were installed, public opinion there is mixed on the ability of these cameras to manage traffic.
Criticizing the system, a British newspaper once wrote that though Britons represent only one percent of the world’s population, they have more than 20 percent of the world’s traffic surveillance cameras!
It is only natural then that the Saher system would have to face criticism. We need crystal clear statistics before we can say whether the system is effective or not.
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