The Municipal Council in Riyadh has called for the Saher road safety program to be introduced in all of the capital's streets, and heard recommendations for special traffic courts to handle motoring offenses. “The Saher system is designed to make the roads safe for all road users, and it has clearly had a positive impact by reducing the number of accidents and in turn human and financial losses,” Abdul Rahman Al-Muqbil, the Riyadh Traffic Police chief, told a recent council meeting. In response to questions from council members, Al-Muqbil said that the Traffic Dispute Commission was carrying out the tasks of “much needed” specialized traffic courts which, he said, would be set up to handle motoring offenses. He added that the solution to traffic congestion in the capital lay in public transport. The meeting was chaired by the Mayor of Riyadh Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Ayyaf, who expressed the mayoralty's support for the Saher system of cameras which automatically register and issue fines for motoring offenses such as speeding and jumping traffic lights. “It is an important program that is helping to tackle the terrifying numbers of accidents in which people are killed or left with disabilities,” Bin Ayyaf said. Riyadh is the first city in the Kingdom to see the introduction of the Saher system. Major cities in the Eastern Province and Makkah are expected to follow suit in the near future.
