Saudi Gazette report

DAMMAM — Reckless drivers who exceed the speed limits or make traffic violations will be required to do a social service in hospitals for three hours a day, according to a report in Al-Watan newspaper on Monday.

The Traffic Department initially introduced the alternative punishment in the Eastern Province, but it might be expanded to all regions of the Kingdom if proved successful.

Under the new pogrom called "Traffic Safety and Obligatory Social Service", rash drivers will be asked to work in hospitals from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., taking care of patients who are themselves victims of traffic accidents. They will have to feed and clean the patients and help them move inside the hospital.

Each driver will have to submit a daily report of at least two patients with details of their health status and the reasons for their hospitalization.

The Eastern Province Traffic Department is implementing the program in collaboration with Dhahran General Hospital.

The drivers will be trained by nurses before taking up their part-time jobs in the hospital.

During their three-hour presence in the hospital, the drivers will remain close to the patients and will attend to all their requests.

"The program is aimed at disciplining rash drivers, straighten their behavior and make them pay for their carelessness," said a Traffic Department source. He, however, did not give the duration of the social service.

He said if a driver is not fully committed to implementing the program to the letter, he will be made to repeat the service within a limited period.