66 Million Kd In Traffic Fines Issued And 300,000 Driving Licenses Revoked

As reported by Al-Anba daily, Brigadier General Muhammad Saad Al-Otaibi, Director of Traffic Violations Investigation at the General Traffic Department, 1,748,368 traffic violation fines were not paid by motorists in 2023 for traffic violations. The value of these unpaid fines exceeded KD 44 million, he explained.

If these fines are not paid, they will be referred to the Traffic Court. The value of the traffic fines for the current year 2023 approached KD 66 million. The total value of the fines from the year 2020 until now has reached a quarter of a billion Kuwaiti dinars. In an interview with Al-Anba Daily, Brigadier General Al-Otaibi said, “It is certain that a number of these violations are due to expatriates who left permanently”.

According to Brig. Gen. Al-Otaibi, about 300,000 licenses have been withdrawn in four years. In 2020, about 50,390 driving licenses were withdrawn, followed by 88,925 in 2021, 100,266 in 2022, and 53,083 in 2023. The number includes deceased people and those whose residency permits have expired or who have left the country permanently or for some other reason."

It was appreciated that Sheikh Talal Al- Khaled, the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, had made a decision preventing expatriates and Gulf citizens from traveling without paying their dues, including traffic fines, stressing that the value of unpaid fines will be reduced as a result of this decision. According to Brigadier General Al-Otaibi, the total amount paid in September amounted to KD 6.5 million after Sheikh Talal's decision.

The traffic law was established to reduce accidents and reduce the number of victims of road fatalities. Therefore, it is necessary that the law must be adhered to. At the same time, the penalties in the applicable law do not serve as a deterrent, which prompted the Ministry of Interior to present a draft law to increase penalties. Deportations based on serious violations accounted for 122 expatriates deported from the country.