There should be heavier fines for traffic offenders and the country has to set up specialized courts to deal with traffic violations. These were two of the main recommendations from over 500 participants at the First Traffic Safety Forum organized by the Saudi Traffic Safety Society in Dammam recently. Participants also want a traffic safety information center set up which is linked to the High Council for Traffic Safety. The council should also play a greater role in designing plans, strategies and budgets for traffic safety projects. Dr. Abdul Hameed Al-Mo'ajel, a member of the forum's higher committee and chairman of its scientific committee, said that the participants also recommended that women should be given a role in raising awareness about traffic safety. Forum participants also want the private sector including vehicle agencies, insurance companies and banks to shoulder their social responsibility and help raise public awareness about the importance of traffic safety. It was further recommended that universities develop training programs for traffic safety engineers and technicians. The participants also urged the Traffic Administration to complete the other phases of the Saher Traffic Management System. Meanwhile, Col. Abdul Rahman Al-Shanbari, Director-General of the Eastern Province Traffic Administration, blamed the Eastern Province Mayoralty for traffic congestion in the region. “When it comes to assessing traffic flow and congestion, the mayoralty depends mainly on consultant engineers whose main objective is financial benefit. That's why most of these consultants fail to implement projects that reduce traffic congestion. In addition, there are no road engineers to supervise the drafting of proper designs for streets, intersections and bridges to avoid traffic congestion.” Al-Shanbari also criticized the mayoralty for allowing banks to set up ATMs on busy roads and said these decisions should be revisited. Al-Shanbari's allegations were rejected by Engineer Dhaifallah Al-Otaibi, Mayor of the Eastern Province. “Col. Al-Shanbari's information is not accurate. The mayoralty is coordinating with concerned authorities to achieve the utmost degree of traffic safety and reduce the number of accidents. We have many projects on the table to construct new roads,” he said. __
