The Traffic Department in the Eastern Province has authorized Civil Defense and public and industrial security officers in the private and public sectors to issue traffic fines.

The officers received their first ticket books during the Gulf Traffic Week currently under way in the Eastern Province.

Abdulrahman Al-Shanbari, director general of the EP traffic department, said that the ticket books were distributed to boost traffic control measures in line with the directions of Prince Jalawi bin Abdul Aziz bin Mosaad, EP deputy governor and head of the traffic safety committee.

Al-Shanbari said his department issued more than 25,000 traffic tickets in the region for offenses including talking on cell phones while driving and not fastening seat belts. He said car-drifting incidents in the Eastern Province had dropped by 80 percent since last year because of sanctions imposed on these offenders.

The 30th Gulf Traffic Week is taking place in the Eastern Province under the patronage of Eastern Province Gov. Prince Saud bin Naif, the Sultan bin Abdulaziz Center for Science and Technology (SciTech), and other bodies.

Al-Shanbari said that the Saher system has proven to be effective. “Violations for running red lights have dropped by 100 percent. But we will not judge the system in terms of its ability to reduce speeding until it covers all the streets and intersections across the region.”

He said the system currently covers only 3 percent of the entire province.

He said next year's award for the best driver would include more companies and government bodies. This year, the organizers handed out SR75,000 in prize money to 19 drivers of all ages.

He said the EP traffic department would categorize various violations on ATM machines, to make it easier for offenders to pay their fines. This includes speeding, running red lights, driving into oncoming traffic, drifting and driving without a license.

He said traffic offenders face various penalties for offenses. This includes the Ministry of Interior denying them passport and residency card renewal services, and visas for foreign workers, until the courts have cleared them.

Foreigners would be banned from traveling until they resolve their cases with the various judicial bodies, he said.

He said undercover traffic officers in 35 cars have been deployed in neighborhoods to monitor drifters. These officers issue more than 1,000 traffic fines a day.