Mahmoud Ahmad Is it me, or has everyone else come to this horrible conclusion that we are a society that does not respect rules and regulations. We have developed a scary reputation, both within and outside the Kingdom, that we are a society that loves to break rules, especially those of our country. There are many examples that'll prove my point, but I will restrict myself here to the Saher system, or more precisely the strange hatred that my countrymen have toward the Saher system, introduced to check the reckless speeding on our roads. I do not know why most of us here complain about Saher. Just look at the shameful accident rate in Saudi Arabia before complaining. How many people have died because of car accidents? How many people are suffering from disabilities because of these crashes? How many more people could have died if the traffic department had not taken these necessary steps to curb speeding, and in the process accidents? Should we be proud of the fact that we are number one in the Arab world and, probably the whole world, when it comes to car accidents? The vicious attacks on Saher in newspapers, social media and discussion forums only emphasize one thing — we as a society love violations. The simple argument against those attacking Saher is — respect the law and stick to the speed limit. When someone complains that he has been slapped with SR20,000 worth of fines for traffic violations because of Saher, well I say do not break the law. Why can't this person stick to the speed limit? If he did, he would not have received a single violation. But we rather grouse about the system than adhere to it. We will employ all efforts to get past this obstacle, instead of treating it as a lifesaving unit and accept the binds it places on us. So much so, we have become creative on how to cheat the Saher system. No sooner was the system put in place in various cities that citizens and residents have tried to stay a step ahead… here too with much speed. Smuggled products and paints were sold in the market. All they had to do was to spray on the number plates and when the Saher camera flashes when the car flouts a rule — either running a red light or speeding — the numbers will not be clear. Another method adopted by creative violators is to fix a button near the steering wheel that flips down the license plate when Saher cameras are visible. Some drivers' ingenuity extends to hiding one of the numbers by tape. Some passed on a trick they learned where if a person drove on the yellow lane far to the left, then Saher would not be able to detect the car. There may be other methods, to which I am not privy to. But all would rather spend money and energy on implementing these cockamamie ideas than implement the simple police request to stop speeding and obey traffic rules. The only indication I get from all this is that most of our drivers are hell-bent on violating the laws, and they will go to extreme measures to violate it. What about those drivers who want to drive peacefully on streets that do not have these joy riders, drifters or just speedsters? They support Saher as a godsend that would put an end to reckless driving. But in this growing tug-of-war, it is those who believe that their alpha male status dictates they violate the rules, who are the ones who are refusing to yield. There was a case where one who was supposed to uphold the law was the one who broke it, reported by Al-Watan newspaper. It said a police officer hid a number on the plates to escape the long arm of the law. This strange behavior did not go unpunished as the traffic department spotted this and took the officer to task. I was also disappointed to hear that the Saudi Embassy in Abu Dhabi intervened to help Saudi traffic violators by getting the amount of fines for traffic violations reduced. We cannot discipline our drivers on our roads, and we let our brothers in the UAE do the job and discipline them. It is embarrassing enough to hear that a Saudi driver was fined AED 20,000. What was he doing? Not only are we exporting dangerous projectiles on world roads, it also damages the credibility of our traffic department because they granted them their driving license. These drivers think that they can continue to drive recklessly anywhere. Many years back when I was in Bahrain, a driver told me that the best way to find a Saudi on the street is to look for violators. When someone is stopped for breaking a traffic law, then there's 95 percent chance that he's Saudi. Sadly, the same people who respect the laws abroad and brag about how organized these countries are, end up being the same people who violate the Kingdom's laws, believing that laws exist only abroad. The director general of traffic in Saudi Arabia, Gen. Suleiman Al-Ajlan, revealed horrifying statistics. In 2011, more than 500,000 accidents took place, killing more than 7,000 people. More than 40,000 people were injured in these accidents. Are we proud of these numbers? According to a report published in 2009, the Kingdom witnessed more than 4.3 million car accidents in the last 19 years that killed around 86,000 and injured more than 600,000. Alarming statistics, but cold facts that we need to assimilate. The only thing I would request the traffic department to do is to work out the modalities when a Saher monitor at a traffic signal could cause problems for genuine law-abiding people. When a rescue vehicle or a police car responding to emergencies is flashing its sirens, the cars ahead stay rooted for fear of being penalized. It is here the law has to bend a little, allowing for a timely “amendment” that could suit all. Saher did help in reducing the number of accidents, with the percentage of fatalities from car accidents dropping by 14 percent all over the Kingdom and injuries dropping by 55.8 percent, according to statistics published by Riyadh newspaper. Saher is not the enemy. The only enemy is the devil inside us that sees respecting traffic laws as a shameful behavior. — The writer can be contacted at [email protected]
