of-year exams are scheduled to conclude Wednesday and traffic authorities throughout the Kingdom have laid down a strategy for catching reckless students, some of whom have been involved in terrible traffic accidents. Lt. Col. Ali Al-Zahrani, spokesman of the Eastern Province Traffic Department, told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that the department has maintained a state of alert for staff, including security patrols, foot patrols and undercover agents. A new, unprecedented plan ensures officers are available at all locations and outlets, and facilitates students getting to and from schools, he said. On the first day of the exams, all the Eastern Province Traffic Department personnel were on the field early in the morning to streamline traffic flow in Dammam, Al-Khobar and Dhahran, Al-Zahrani said. There were personnel at every traffic signal in those cities, he added. Undercover policemen are present near schools and education complexes where large numbers of students gather, Lt. Col. Al-Zahrani disclosed. The gatherings could lead some students to practice hot rodding, which would have serious consequences, he added. There were 490 officers, privates and administrators in the field in Dammam, Al-Khobar, Dhahran and Al-Qateef, Lt. Col. Al-Zahrani said. The official pointed out the existence of prior coordination between the Traffic Department and the Eastern Province Education Administration to bar students from leaving their school premises between examinations, to prevent them from resorting to dangerous driving or becoming victims of the dangerous drivers. Lt. Col. Al-Zahrani confirmed that there has been a very big drop in hot rodding, which is usually practiced by some students when they come out of school. He attributed the decline to increasing awareness among many students and the deployment of traffic policemen at all important locations. The new plan was carried under the supervision of Col. Abdul Rahman Al-Shanbari, Director of the Eastern Province Traffic Department, and his assistant Abdul Aziz Bin Ahmad Al-Ghamdi, Lt. Col. Al-Zahrani said. There were 12,500 traffic violations registered between June 11 and June 19, he added.
