Fatima Muhammad Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Despite the number of deaths on the Kingdom's roads, many families continue to rely on their underage and unlicensed male members to drop and pick up other members of the family. Saher, a traffic monitoring system that was started in 2010, has considerably reduced car accidents but many residents are asking when a system to detect child underage drivers will be implemented. Azza Al-Saeed, a university student whose underage brother drives her around, said, “We rely on my 14-year-old brother to get stuff from nearby shops, he does not drive outside the city and we call him often to make sure he is safe. He does not go to a place further than 30 minutes from home." Al-Saeed explained that her father is old and cannot cope with all the driving demands, nor does he allow her and her sisters to take taxis or private drivers and wants them to be dropped only by their male guardians. Umm Abdul Rahman's 15-year-old son has been driving her around the city for 3 years. When Abdul Rahman was 12, he reportedly showed a passion for cars and began learning how to drive from his father. When he turned 15, his mother asked him to be her driver. “I don't allow him to go out on his own. I accompany him and make sure that he doesn't speed and am always there in case of an emergency." Abdul Rahman said he used to like driving but grew tired of it quickly. “In the beginning, it was fun. But now I hate it because it is a chore and takes me away from my friends," he said.
