Kuwait issued 23,000 traffic tickets in last week of 2022

Cairo: Kuwaiti traffic authorities had issued 23,044 tickets in the last week of 2022 and referred 13 minors to the juveniles prosecution for hitting the road without having a driving licence, a Kuwaiti newspaper has reported.

The violations were registered from December 24 to 30, according to Al Anba.

During the week-long crackdown on road offenders, traffic police impounded 78 vehicles and arrested 17 wanted persons, the paper quoted figures from the Kuwaiti General Department of Traffic.

Two drivers were, meanwhile, referred to the General Administration for Drugs Control over narcotics possession, it added.

Last month, Kuwait’s General Department of Traffic said it had withdrawn about 1,000 driving licences in 40 days from expatriates who violated rules.

The expatriates’ driving licences are withdrawn if specific conditions to obtain a licence are not met, such as salary, university degree, or profession.

Last October, the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry announced revising foreigners’ driving licences and said any expatriate found to have obtained the driving licence in violation of the country’s rules would be summoned and the driving licence would be irreversibly revoked.

Nearly 200,000 driving licences were likely to be withdrawn as a result of the revision for foreigners who do not meet requirements for getting the driving licence, Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai estimated at the time.

Expatriates in Kuwait hold around 800,000 driving licences.

Verification of the expatriates’ driving licences was seen as aimed at easing traffic congestion on the country’s roads.

Foreigners make up nearly 3.4 million of Kuwait’s overall population of around 4.6 million.