When the tougher traffic rules were enforced in Bahrain some months ago to bring truant drivers to book not many people seemed to have taken them seriously. After all, suspension of a driving licence “merely” for speeding was unheard of even though the new rules introducing points for traffic violations clearly emphasized that.
It therefore comes as no surprise that last week licences of five drivers were suspended for exceeding the limit up to which one could accumulate violation points without attracting punitive action from the Traffic Directorate.
Each of the drivers had accumulated 20 traffic violation points according to Acting Deputy Director-General of Traffic Lt-Col Mohammed Ali Daraj. These points were accumulated by the five for a diversity of violations though, ranging from indulging in illegal drag races and performing car stunts on highways to jumping the red signal and driving at very high speeds.
One of them was a truant of the first degree since his licence had already been suspended for three months in the past but he refused to learn from the experience and therefore was awarded the penalty of six months’ suspension of his licence under Article 4 of the Traffic Law.
But suspension of licences apart, the punished drivers need to do some soul-searching.
Jumping the red light is a serious offence. Once the light turns yellow it is time to stop. Remember that at that point already, in one of those rare cases, someone on another road of the crossroads hurtling towards his ‘red’ light might find it go ‘green’ even before he has slowed down and might therefore cross the ‘green’ signal at maybe 100kmph. And if you have jumped the ‘red’ light and come in his way, the scenario could be deadly for both – you the culprit in a hurry and the other driver with the full right of way.
Speeding too is a dangerous game. One should not only drive within the 80kmph-120kmph range depending on the nature of the road and the amount of traffic, one should always be fully in control of the vehicle. Most speeding accidents occur because while pressing the accelerator many drivers tend to forget the limit and lose control of their vehicle.
And the worst culprits are the ones who like to show off and perform stunts on the road or play with their expensive limos, using them like toys. Road stunts gone wrong have taken the lives of many, incapacitated quite a few and left dozen of luxury cars in a wreck. So do not show off and play tricks with the traffic and the machine for a few minutes of pleasure as you show off your self-devised stunts. You might lose your license, even your vehicle, even your life!