Driving a la Saudi

Driving in Saudi Arabia is very dangerous, at least in my point of view. The kingdom has registered more than 1.36m accidents in the last five years causing the deaths of 21,900 people and injuring 122,600 others. Sabi nga, kahit anong ingat mo sa pagmamaneho kung hindi naman maingat ang makakabangga mo ay wala rin. Thanks God, defensive driving is the reason why I am not included in that data. At ayokong mangyari sa akin yun!

Where can you find a driver that his left leg on the dashboard while driving? Where in the world that you may think the traffic light (the green one) is attached to the car's horn? You'll be sat in a huge traffic jam about 40 cars back from the lights but as soon as the light goes green someone next to you will beep their horn. I find it hugely entertaining and I can't wait to give it a go.

Where in the world can you find a driver drifting like in a computer game in the middle a busy road? And, hold your breath, where in the world can you find a 6 or 7-year old driving with his younger siblings? At nakalabas pa ang ulo sa bintana ng mga kapatid na tuwang-tuwa naman!

Mas maganda pa pala ang lugar na may trisikel at padyak at may jeepney o may accesible na public transportation. At least, hindi ka mapipilitan mag drive kung may pupuntahan ka.

The good news is this: kung masiraan ka naman dito sa gitna ng kalsada, tutulungan ka kaagad ng pulis sa pagtulak o tatawag ng tutulong para sayo. Walang traffic fines, di tulad sa atin na yan ang hinihintay ng mga tiwaling pulis para maka dilehensya - "obstruction of traffic" daw samantalang di mo naman kagustuhan na masiraan ka. Tiket lang ang i-issue sayo dito para bayaran mo sa bangko. At di ka rin makaka renew ng resident permit o iqama hangga't di mo ito nababayaran. Walang kotong.

Just recently, the Saudi Arabia's Council of Ministers has approved a new traffic law that stiffens penalties for drivers who cause accidents and denies a driving license to those convicted of taking or dealing in drugs.

Under the new system, each traffic violation is assigned a point value. If a driver accumulates more than 96 points worth of violations within a lunar (Hijri) year, he would lose his license for at least two years and be required to enroll and pass driving school before petitioning for license reinstatement. Furthermore, drivers who reach a certain number of points will receive temporary suspensions. For example, when a driver incurs 24 points his license will be suspended for three months.

Attached is the list of violations and its corresponding penalties for the information of our kababayans driving in Saudi Arabia. Take note the last one:)

VIOLATIONS	PENALTIES / PUNISHMENT
	FIRST OFFENSE FINE JAIL	REPEATERS FINE JAIL
Running on Red Light	900SR / 3 DAYS	1,800SR / 6 DAYS
Wrong way on a One-Way	900SR / 3 DAYS	1,800SR / 6 DAYS
Speeding	900SR / 3 DAYS	1,500SR / 6 DAYS
Parking in a NO PARKING area	500SR / 3 DAYS	Same as 1st Offense.
Parking on Side-Walk	Same as 1st Offense.
Failure to carry Driver's License	300SR	Same as 1st Offense.
Driving with Expired Driver's License	300SR	Same as 1st Offense.
Driving without Valid Driver's License	900SR	Same as 1st Offense.
Expired Vehicle Registration	500SR / 3 DAYS	Same as 1st Offense.
Passing in NO PASSING ZONE	900sr / 3 DAYS	Same as 1st Offense.
Leaving the Scene of an Accident	900SR / 3 DAYS	Same as 1st Offense.
Failure to stop for Police	300SR / 3 DAYS	Same as 1st Offense.
Reckless Driving	1,500SR / 20 DAYS 20 LASHES	3,000SR / 20 DAYS / 20 Lashes & Vehicle Confiscation.
Accompanying a Reckless Driver	1,500SR / 20 LASHES	3,000SR / 20 DAYS / 20 LASHES