Saudi gets tough with offending drivers

Saudi Arabia is planning to join the UAE in enforcing a black point system in a bid to curb soaring traffic accidents but the Gulf Kingdom’s proposed rules will carry tougher measures involving seizure of the offender’s driving licence.

Officials said they have drafted new traffic regulations and they await endorsement by traffic authorities following a sharp rise in road accidents in the second largest Arab economy and world’s dominant oil exporter.

Motorists accumulating 24 points in one year will have their driving licence impounded, newspapers said, quoting traffic chief Major General Abdul Rahman Mukbel.

“The new law involves seizure of the driving licence of motorists who pile up 24 black points whether in one day or one year,” he said. “Jumping the red light involves six black points and this means that any driver doing this four times will lose his licence.”

Mukbel did not make clear if the driving licence of offenders will be withdrawn temporarily or permanently.

Saudi Arabia, with a population of around 29 million, including eight million expatriates, has one of the world’s worst traffic records. More than 12,000 people were killed on the Kingdom’s roads in 2011, including nearly 5,000 children.

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