Jeddah Traffic Department officials say they are prepared for the expected high traffic density that occurs with the mid-term school exams’ period, which starts today and stretches for two weeks.

Department Director General Muhammad bin Hasan Al-Qahtani said his department’s plans are based on deploying official and undercover traffic patrols at the region’s road network’s main points as well as routes to schools and different educational institutions. The patrols will be intensively present on roads by early morning.

Al-Qahtani said several two-way streets around some schools were converted to one-way ones to guarantee smooth traffic flow during the exam period. Those include Al-Buraidi Street to the north of Al-Bayan Schools in Al-Andalus District, which is converted to an east-to-west route only during the daily start and end of exams.

The traffic flow between north and south around these schools will be through Ibrahim Al-Jaffali Street.

Muhammad Fida Street to the south of Al-Thaghar Schools in Al-Jamea District is also converted to east-to-west one in the morning, and to the opposite direction at noon when pupils go home.

As for the school complex north of Quraish Road and west to Madinah Road, the eastern street adjacent to the schools is converted to a south-to-north one, so entry to the area will be via Quraish and exit via Muhammad Ibrahim Masoud Street.

Al-Qahtani said the department has coordinated with the Ministry of Education to ban pupils from coming out of schools between exams to avoid congestion and traffic violations. Patrols will be present around schools to prevent car drifting (tafheet), a practice that usually increases during these periods.

A pupil caught practicing tafheet will be allowed to take the exams but will be summoned after they end to implement penalties against him. The penalties for first tafheet offense will be 15-day impoundment of vehicle and a SR 1,000 fine, and the driver will be tried in court to look into the possibility of a prison term. For second offense the car will be impounded for a month, a SR 1,500 fine imposed and the driver referred to court.

A pupil caught practicing tafheet for the third time will have to pay a fine of SR 2,000, have his car impounded and will be tried by a court which will look into confiscating the car and sentencing the driver to prison terms — if the car was found to be a rental or stolen, the third-time offender will be obliged to pay an amount equal to its value.

Al-Qahtani called on pupils to head for their schools early to avoid traffic problems that could arise due to the many projects being executed in the streets of Jeddah. When complete and in service, these projects will have a positive impact on traffic, but currently the works are going on at many roads and students are advised to take alternative routes that are less congested. Examples of this are to take King Fahd and Prince Sultan roads as alternatives to Madina Road, and Macaroona Street and Prince Majed Road as alternatives to King Fahd Road.

He said patrols are requested to attend accidents immediately, help students and drive to their schools if necessary.

He said a continuous update of traffic lights timings is carried out especially on main roads.

Trucks of all types are banned from driving inside the city, highways and Al-Khair Bridge at peak times between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m,, noon and 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. and 1 a.m.

Al-Qahtani called on parents and pupils to abide by traffic regulations, and on fathers not to allow underage sons who have no driving license to drive cars to schools, and to follow up with their sons after they finish exams and until they arrive home.

Spokesman for Jeddah Traffic Department, Lt. Col. Zaid Al-Hamzi, said the department is ready for heavy traffic flow expected during the midterm holiday in Jeddah.

The city is the gateway to Makkah and is a favored destination for many vacationers. Therefore, the department has prepared traffic plans to ensure smooth traffic flow in the whole of the city and at the new corniche in particular where 20 patrols will be stationed to organize traffic and prevent violations that can obstruct it like wrong parking.

The whole area of the Cornish, the intersection of King Fahd Road and Tahliya Street, as well as main streets traffic lights and main intersections are covered with more than 30 patrols in addition to traffic police officers.