As it took some time to receive the dead bodies of the innocent little angels who died on Wednesday in Jubail, their funeral prayer couldn’t be said along with Isha prayer on Thursday. Therefore, a number people from different walks of life and nationalities, who had come to attend the funeral, waited till 9.30 p.m.
During the two-hour wait, the only subject under discussions was the lawlessness on the Kingdom’s roads which is taking lives of drivers, fellow passengers and other motorists. All these lives are being lost while you can’t blame the roads or vehicles condition. It’s solely motorists’ behavior and disrespect for law, which is responsible for this mayhem. There was a general consensus during these discussions that present setup of traffic police can’t solve this cancerous problem. Only importing technology, such as Saher, can’t force the motorists to behave on 98 percent of roads not covered by Saher cameras. Kingdom needs a highly professional police force ready to be physically deployed in each and every corner in all weathers, who can show no leniency to minor drivers and traffic violators, who are ready to chase and nab the speedy reckless drivers and lane changers regardless of their position in society.
As Saudi Arabia has been using services of world-class professionals in all the modern fields — engineering, medicine, industries operation, banking etc, therefore, why not take assistance from the outside world to treat the “traffic cancer.” Traffic control shall be contracted out for some time to those countries who have made their mark in this field.
Local police force needs to be trained as per international standards to feel the responsibility and show seriousness toward the society they belong to. But we all know this is not going to happen and everyone in the Kingdom will continue to suffer on its roads. — Masood Khan, Jubail
Roads of death
