RIYADH – No one including those who drive palace vehicles is above the Saher traffic control and management system, said officials from the Traffic Department. The officials, while addressing members of the Shoura Council's security committee at a meeting in Riyadh, said the department received a list from the King's palace with details of all vehicles to ensure that the law applies to them. They said Saher would be enforced in more cities and highways in the future. Revenue from Saher traffic tickets goes to the state coffers and the company that runs the system gets 30 percent of that income, the officials said. Any violations or failure to install a sufficient number of cameras on roads and highways will subject the company to fines, according to officials. All Saher vehicles are run by Saudi staff with monthly salaries of at least SR4,500 a month, they added. The system can identify vehicles whose drivers remove or hide the digits of their license plates. The Kingdom has one of the largest traffic accident rates in the world and its economy loses SR13 billion every year because of these. Every year, over 300,000 traffic accidents take place in the country, claiming the lives of 6,000 and injuring over 35,000 others. Over 2,000 survivors end up with permanent disabilities.
