Drivers with 3 offences face jail in new traffic law
Drivers committing three dangerous road offences within a year could be jailed under a new traffic law being considered by Gulf oil producers within plans to curb worsening road accidents, a Saudi newspaper reported on Monday.
The six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries could also approve new rules for impounding vehicles in case their drivers commit four offences and fail to pay any of them, Al Riyadh Arabic language daily said.
“The new traffic law to be enforced in the GCC stipulates that motorists who commit three serious traffic offences that could endanger public safety within one year will be sent to court and face imprisonment unless the judge issues a sentence to double the fine against the offender,” it said, quoting Saudi traffic police sources.
It said that under the new rules, drivers will also be forced to pay the maximum fine in case they fail to meet the payment deadline.
“In some cases, the Ministry of Interior could also suspend its services to those drivers and impound their vehicles,” the paper said.
It quoted the sources as saying proposed speeding fines include SR300 (Dh300) against offenders exceeding the speed limit by 25km and SR700 (Dh700) for exceeding the limit by 41km.
GCC states of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman have one of the worst road accident records in the world.
A recent Saudi study said the six members surpassed the United States in deaths caused by road accidents which inflicted losses of more than $19 billion in 2010.
An average one person in the GCC, with a population of around 46 million, is killed in road mishaps every hour and lack of awareness about road discipline is the main reason for these disasters, said the study, authored by Abdul Jalil Al Saif, a member of Saudi Arabia’s Shura council (appointed parliament).
“If we compare the number of casualties in road accidents in the GCC and the United States, we find that the GCC countries are ahead of the US despite the much higher number of cars operating in the US,” he said.
His figures showed road mishaps killed 24 per 100,000 people in the GCC during that year compared with 21 per 100,000 people in the US.
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