Man films himself driving trailer from passenger's seat in Saudi Arabia

Manama: Saudi traffic authorities have arrested an Indian national who drove a trailer at a high speed while sitting on the passenger’s seat.

The driver took even higher risks by filming a clip of his 'prowess' as he was driving with his outstretched left hand barely touching the steering wheel from the other side of the trailer moving at a speed exceeding 100 kilometres on a busy highway, Saudi news site Sabq reported.

The traffic authorities said the reckless they arrested the driver after he was identified by his sponsor. He was subsequently referred to the competent parties for legal measures.

He is most likely to be deported for breaking the laws and for his dangerous and reckless behaviour, they added.

“He should be punished severely and not just deported,” Al Saroori, a blogger, said. “You cannot drive a vehicle as big as a small building and be so wildly irresponsible. The risks were dangerously high, and he should be made to realise the extent of the dangers he was causing.”

Fahad, another blogger, said he wanted to see more traffic patrols on highways, particularly in the evening.

“We have horrible movies in eastern Riyadh in the evenings,” he said. “Trailers carrying tonnes of goods jump red lights, posing serious threats to road users. I wish more patrols were around to catch them.”

According to official statistics, a car accident happens every second and 17 people are being killed in crashes every day on average in Saudi Arabia.

Around 25 per cent of the accident-related deaths happened in the region of Makkah in the western part of the vast kingdom.

Campaigns by the authorities to bring order to chaotic driving and boost a more positive traffic culture have often been resisted by unruly and speeding drivers.

A rigorous monitoring system with traffic cameras on highways to check speed and at the traffic lights in major cities to record red light jumping has succeeded in bringing down the number of accidents.

The authorities now plan to expand Saher, the monitoring cameras system, to all regions of the kingdom by 2018.

Attempts by unruly drivers to beat the system by seeking religious edicts to ban it on the grounds that it was robbing them of their savings have all been rejected by religious scholars.

Several religious figures insisted that cheating the system was not allowed and that all fines had to be paid. In their attempt to avoid the traffic monitoring lenses, some drivers used ruses to conceal their car licence plates, making their identification impossible.

However, the traffic authorities have recently said that they were installing advanced technology cameras to recognise violators. The locating plate recognition (LPR) system sensors are reportedly able to detect the numbers of the licence plates even when drivers tamper with them or cover them with paint or stickers to hide them.