Okaz/Saudi Gazette Main functions of the Saher automated traffic control and management system: Traffic management Auto vehicle location License plate recognition Variable messaging signs Close circuit TV Law enforcement JEDDAH – The General Traffic Department of Taif Governorate has proposed that drivers with traffic fines running into thousands of riyals be allowed to pay them off in installments. Colonel Abdullah Al-Obeid, Director of Taif General Traffic Department, told Okaz that paying off tickets in installments is not the only solution but the best one for those who have many fines. Al-Obeid said that those who reached the maximum number of violations are referred to the courts. “Ninety-six violators received various sentences ranging from imprisonment, having their vehicles impounded to the doubling of the amount of the fines.” The Information Technology Section at the Department tracks down violators who reached the maximum number of violations and refers them to the court, Al-Obeid added. The issue of money and increasing fines for failure to pay is a constant source of dismay for motorists. One motorist said he could not afford to pay the fines accumulating in his name. “They just keep on getting bigger, because I can't pay them,” he said. An earlier report in Okaz/Saudi Gazette quoted Lawyer Nawwaf Aal Ghalib as saying that the current system of operation in which fines are recorded in the name of the vehicle owner and not necessarily the driver who committed the offense, is against the law. “Articles 81, 67, 73 and 75 of the Basic Law state that the offender has the right to object to the penalty to the relevant authorities, that three copies of the violation should be made with one provided to the offender, and that the offender has the right to object to it before the relevant court within 30 days of the violation being issued,” he said. Under the current system, if fines are not paid on time, they automatically increase without any recourse to complaint as described by Aal Ghalib. __
