Director-General of Traffic Major General Mohamed Saad al-Kharji yesterday stressed the importance of greater parental control over children with regard to their driving habits, particularly in the Sealine area.
Statistics announced by the General Directorate of Traffic yesterday showed that the Sealine area witnessed eight traffic mortalities in 2018. A review identified the four main reasons for traffic accidents in the area as parents renting motorcycles for their young children, driving events that do not meet safety and security requirements, the use of quadbikes with high-speed engines by unqualified drivers, and the absence of panels indicating danger spots.
Speaking on the issue, Major General al-Kharji referred to the measures taken by the traffic authorities to reduce accidents in the area. These include setting up controls and requirements for registering motorcycles and vehicles intended for transporting tourists and conducting patrols in the area round the clock. The authority also organises inspection campaigns at shops to ensure their compliance with safety requirements, conducts campaigns in camps, schools and universities to raise awareness of various kinds of traffic hazards, and works in collaboration with relevant bodies to carry out campaigns and set up road checkpoints to curb traffic violations.
At the same time, he also highlighted the importance of parental control over children, especially with regard to youngsters driving big SUVs or powerful quadbikes without adequate skills or a driving licence, and performing dangerous stunt driving and risking their lives as well as those of others. 
He said parents should observe the behaviour of their children in this regard and exercise tighter control on them to ensure their compliance with traffic laws and regulations for everyone’s safety. 
The official, though, observed that traffic awareness among youngsters is increasing as incidents of stunt driving in residential neighbourhoods are quite rare in the country nowadays. He said motorists who practise stunt driving on public roads create havoc on public property, especially on newly built roads whose construction has cost a lot of money, by spoiling or damaging such streets.
“We need to be stricter with such violators and enforce the laws on them, ordering them to repair the damage they have caused and return the road to its former proper shape at their own expense. This will set an example for others who might think of committing similar violations,” he stressed.