Public outcry against ‘rising’ traffic fines
Manama : Um Ahmed, a Bahraini woman, got a shock of her life when she was asked to pay an accumulated traffic fine of BD2000 recently. Um Ahmed is not alone. Several people in the Kingdom are receiving hefty bills to pay traffic fines, raising a public outcry against the ever-increasing traffic penalty.
The matter was intensively discussed during the past two weeks in different local media platforms, including the official radio channel.
Local columnists and bloggers expressed their resentment about the new traffic points system which came into effect in February 2016, and fines violating drivers in accordance with the repetition of driving offences.
In a call to Bahrain Radio, Bahraini Um Ahmed told that she was shocked to discover that she had to pay BD2000 in fines that accumulated in a year.
She said that the fines were for crossing the speed limit and that she wasn’t informed about them in advance. The woman also claimed that she may have crossed the speed limit by one Km per hour, describing fining her for it as “injustice”.
General Director of Traffic Colonel Shaikh Abdulrahman bin Abdulwahab Al Khalifa had clarified in a statement earlier that crossing the speed limit by one per cent is considered an offence. He asserted that the directorate doesn’t discriminate between citizens and foreigners and isn’t targeting anyone.
Speed limits
In response to the resentment about traffic fines, Legal Affairs Acting Head at the General Directorate of Traffic Captain Khalid Bugais asserted that drivers should stick to the speed limit signs on roads to avoid violating the rules.
“Crossing the speed limits in accordance with article 50 of the traffic law is divided to two categories. In case of exceeding the speed limit within 30pc then the fine is BD50 and if it is paid within a week, the amount is reduced to BD25. If the speed limit is crossed by more than 30pc, the fine increases to BD100 and could be slashed to BD50 if it is paid within a week,” Captain Bugais clarified in a statement issued yesterday.
He added that the speed limits have been determined by the Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry for the safety of road users, in accordance to the nature of the roads.
Colonel Shaikh Abdulrahman bin Abdulwahab Al Khalifa has called upon drivers to register online for the SMS notifications system to be updated about their offences and benefit from all traffic e-services.
To activate the contact number, log into the portal http://www.bahrain.bh and select the services of the General Directorate of Traffic and then log in the e-key or register for a new account. After that update the contact number and email address to start receiving the service.
Traffic policemen in disguise
A picture that was widely shared online, apparently showing traffic police personnel in a civilian vehicle.
Gaining more than 250 retweets on Twitter, the picture was shared by Bahraini netizens, social workers, columnists and former parliamentarians, who alleged that traffic policemen are hiding to detect the traffic violations instead of raising awareness among drivers.
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