By Abdo Khal
Okaz
PEOPLE these days have nothing else to discuss but the heavy traffic fines suffocating a large number of them. The dreams have become their only way out of the predicament of paying the fines.
Because the pocket is empty, many people have resorted to rumors. They spread the news that the government has erased all the fines which would be doubled if not paid on time.
The reports are so strong that some people regret to have hastily paid their fines. They wished that they have waited for some more time before queuing up at the ATMs.
Now everyone with traffic fine is approaching the traffic department or checking the ATMs with the hope that he would find that the fines have been abolished.
To come out of their impossible dreams, violators with fine tickets should realize that they would finally have to pay whether they like it or not.
They should know that the traffic department does not have a «merciful committee» to which they can appeal and which may be so generous as to pay for them. The department of traffic knows very well that it had caused financial confusion among many people by its fines which will automatically be doubled if not paid on time.
The violators who are financially capable will pay regardless of the injustice they may feel. They have no other option and they are capable of paying even if they are not happy about it.
There are some members of the society whose fines are accumulating to the point that they will not be able to settle them no matter how long they lived.
The people who are not able to pay the fines will find themselves helpless. They cannot renew their driving licenses or car registrations.
A lot of controversy ensued over the doubling of the fines. Some religious scholars said this is totally against Shariah which does not punish the criminal twice for the same crime.
In the light of all this, the traffic police should find a solution to this problem. It has to find a way out for some people whose fines have reached more than SR70,000 or SR80,000.
Their economic condition speaks for itself. It says clearly that they will not be able to pay the traffic fines even if they lived 70 or 80 years more.
The solution, in my opinion, lies in the continuation of the dream that the government would finally settle their dues.
Another solution lies in the hope that the traffic police would be so kind as to reschedule these fines enabling the violators to pay their debts.
