Saudi Arabia: Woman arrested in Riyadh for disrupting traffic
The offender was seen in a footage shouting as she strolled amid vehicles on the road
Cairo: Saudi police said they had arrested a woman who had appeared in an online video disrupting traffic on a street in the capital Riyadh.
The Saudi Directorate of Public Security said in a post that police patrols in the Riyadh region had arrested the woman over the act.
“Legal procedures were taken against her,” the brief post said without saying when the incident happened or giving the identity of the offender.
In the footage, the woman is seen shouting as she is strolling amid vehicles on the road while motorists and pedestrians are looking on.
It was not clear what she said.
Last month, Saudi police said they had arrested two young men for having stopped their car in the middle of a road in Riyadh to take photos.
The offenders - a Saudi and a Yemeni resident - were accused of blocking traffic on a public road with their car, putting other lives at risk and violating public morals.
They also documented their unlawful act.
A police video showed the duo while one of them taking photos of the other as traffic on the road came to a standstill.
Their act triggered an outcry on social media with critics calling for stern penalties.
Stern penalties
Saudi Arabia has recently toughened penalties for traffic offences to reduce road crashes.
In August, traffic authorities in the kingdom said fines ranging from SR100 to SR150 would be slapped on motorists who fail to give priority to pedestrians using their designated crossings.
Authorities also warned that using a cell phone at the wheel is an offence punishable by a fine of up to SR900, and driving a vehicle with unclear or damaged number plate is a traffic infringement punishable by fines of SR1,000 to 2,000.
The annual cost of traffic accidents in Saudi Arabia is estimated at around SR11.7 billion.