Since my arrival in the Kingdom in 1979, I must have driven a million kilometers. During my stay, I have witnessed hundreds of public and private traffic awareness weeks. However, looking back I do not see any improvement in the driving habits.
There seems to be a large number of drivers who like to establish their right of way irrespective of the regulations. Forcing their way through various lanes to cross from the right to the left is a regular feature.
Thanks to the Saher system, we have now installed, two kinds of traffic lights. At places where cameras are installed, every car stops immediately when red, however at other places without cameras traffic continues for some seconds even after the light turns red. So the driver has to be aware on which traffic signal he is otherwise he may be involved in an accident in case he stops while other cars behind continue moving. I also wonder how the locations were chosen. At the Madinah Road / Tahlia crossing, which is one of the most important in the city, there are no cameras, however at a number of minor crossings cameras have been installed. Red light violations at crossings without cameras is still very popular. On the Haramain highway, many of drivers use the space next to the left lane to overtake other cars. During my stay here I have seen police stopping cars for speeding but I did not see one case where a car was stopped for this practice. Some of these drivers drive so fast that accidents occur when one does not make way on the left lane immediately.
If you see a car drifting between lanes you can be sure that the driver is talking on the phone or even worse is texting. It has become common practice to park the car wherever it is convenient, even if it would lead to double or even triple parking.
How can we improve the situation? My belief is that only the issuance of penalties will improve the situation. The traffic police should concentrate on one part of the city at a time and punish every infraction be it speeding, wrong parking, throwing papers out of the windows and so on. After some days a different part of the city should be chosen. Maybe this would help to improve motorists’ compliance with traffic rules and regulations. If not I do not see any chance of avoiding casualties.
However, one thing always puzzles me. Every time I am in the Eastern Province I notice that the drivers at roundabouts follow the rules and stop and leave the right of way to the cars inside. How come it works there and not in Jeddah? — Dieter Kozlowski, Jeddah
Driving in Saudi Arabia
