Car drifter spared death for fatal crash

RIYADH: The Court of Appeal in Makkah has rejected an appeal for execution of a car drifter whose stunts had resulted in the death of a youth and damage of several cars in Jeddah.
Upholding the ruling by the General Court in Jeddah, the Court of Appeal said the death cannot be called a murder because the drifter did not intentionally knock the victim down.
The three-member bench of the General Court had earlier ruled that the man, according to the Shariah law, will have to either set free a Muslim or keep fast for 60 days continuously.
The General Court had told the next of kin of the accident victim that they could appeal for dia or blood money. However, they moved the Makkah court seeking the death penalty for the car drifter.
The traffic department has introduced tough rules to deter people, especially youths, from car drifting. “Whoever is caught drifting will be punished by law and he will need to take a driving test after he promises not to drift again,” Brig. Wasallah Al-Harbi, director of Jeddah traffic department, had clarified recently.
An offender is caught for the first time will have to pay a fine of SR1,000. His vehicle will be seized for 15 days and the court will determine the prison term.
Offenders caught for the second time will have their vehicles confiscated for a month, fined SR1,500 and a court will impose a longer prison sentence, he added.
A third-time offender will be fined SR2,000, the vehicle impounded and a longer prison sentence, in addition to bigger fine if the vehicle is rented or stolen.