The District Court in Riyadh has sentenced a Saudi to 13 years imprisonment and flogging for killing some people in drunk driving. The Court of Cassation and Higher Judiciary Council have endorsed the verdict on the grounds that the driver was driving recklessly under the influence of liquor. Deaths on the roads are among the highest in the Kingdom. Nearly 6,000 people died in traffic accidents in 2007 in this country of 27.6 million, according to the Saudi Traffic Department. That is a rate of around 21 deaths per 100,000 people — one of the highest in the world. By comparison, around 14 per 100,000 people were killed in road accidents in the United States in 2006, according to the most recent statistics from the Transportation Department. – Okaz __
