QATIF — The Traffic Department in the Eastern Province arrested driver of a vehicle after a girl student narrowly escaped from being run over in Qatif. In a statement on its Twitter account, the department said that they arrested the driver and seized the vehicle. "The driver of the vehicle violated traffic rules after he passed a school transport bus when it stopped for dropping students in the Qatif governorate, endangering the safety of students. The driver was referred to the traffic authorities to take penal action prescribed by law against him. During the past hours, the social networking sites were buzzing with the breathtaking scene in the video in which the girl student, after getting off the school bus, had a miraculous escape while attempting to cross the road when the speeding vehicle passed. In the video, the driver of the bus was seen walking with the girl, carrying her bag on her back, across the road to her house, located on the other side of the road, and then he suddenly stopped in the middle of the road as the speeding vehicle passed. The video of the incident went viral as several social media users urged the traffic authorities to take action against the school bus driver also for stopping the bus in the middle of road in violation of the traffic rules. Social media activists criticized the act of the bus driver and his stopping of the bus in the middle of the street. They stressed the need to park appropriately on the roadside so as not to endanger passengers when crossing the road. They also emphasized that it is not permissible to overtake the school bus in any way in order to safeguard the lives of those crossing the road from possible run over accidents. The Traffic Department warned the owners of vehicles not to overtake school buses while picking and dropping students, pointing out that the maximum penalty for this violation amounts to SR6000.
