Saudi to monitor drivers’ use of mobile phones, seat belts from next week

Saudi Arabia’s General Directorate of Traffic will from next Monday begin to automatically monitor drivers for not using their seat belt and operating a mobile phone while at the wheel.

The directorate said that the first phase of the initiative would begin in the cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, where new traffic monitoring equipment will be installed.

Following this the initiative will be expanded to the other cities in the kingdom.

Drivers have been urged to abide by the traffic rules and drive safely on the roads.

Mobile phone use is one of the most frequent causes of road accidents in the kingdom and has claimed many lives, it said, adding that seat belts could also prevent serious injuries.

An average of 20 people are dying on the kingdom’s roads each day, the Ministry of Transport is reported to have said last year.

Authorities are aiming to bring down the rate of deaths from road accidents to one for every 100,000 people from the current rate of 26.8 per 100,000 people.

This is significantly above the average rate of 9.2 per 100,000 recorded in high-income countries, the 17.4 world average and even the 24.1 per 100,000 average in low income countries recorded by the World Health Organisation.

Read: Saudi traffic authorities say 20 dying on roads each day