More than 60 percent of accidents in Makkah are due to large trucks which block traffic for hours causing traffic jams and inconvenience to motorists.

In light of this, the Traffic Department has allocated specific times for the trucks to enter Makkah due to the large-scale projects taking place in the holy city and its keenness to ensure the safety of road users and smooth flow of traffic at peak times.

Director of traffic in Makkah Salman Al-Jemiei said that large trucks would be prevented from entering Makkah from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. in order to ease the movement of small vehicles in the city.

He added that more than 500 large trucks had been banned from entering the holy city and its surrounding areas over the past week and stressed that violators would be dealt with severely.

The department said that it was monitoring all large vehicles, especially trucks to ensure that they were complying with the traffic regulations.

Spokesman of the traffic department in Makkah Capt. Ali Al-Zahrani said that several police patrols had been deployed to stop trucks entering the holy city, arrest drivers who were circumventing the regulations and avoiding checkpoints put up to bar them entry.