New point system for traffic violations will help curb accidents — experts

AMMAN — Traffic experts and motorists on Saturday welcomed the Traffic Point System recently published in the Official Gazette, saying they are hopeful it will curb traffic accidents and violations in the Kingdom. 

The new system stipulates that motorists who commit certain traffic violations will have a file at the Traffic Department that includes their driving record, the point’s accumulated and traffic violations. 

Motorists who accumulate less than 16 points, according to the new point system, will have the option of attending a rehabilitation course at the Jordan Traffic Institute (JTI), which they will be required to pay for.

Once they complete the course, 8 points will be deducted from their driving record, according to the regulations.

Motorists will have their licence revoked for two months if they accumulate between 16 and 20 points and for three months if they reach between 20 to 24 points.

If motorists accumulate between 24 and 28 points, the period of licence revocation will be four months and they exceed 28 points, then the licence will be revoked for six months.

The Point System specified 10 traffic violations that will entail one to four points.

The violations include four points for driving in the opposite direction, crossing a red light, speeding 50 kilometres over the speed limit, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol; three points for reckless driving, wrongful overtaking, entering a one-way street; two points for driving a motorcycle without a helmet for both the driver and the passenger, and driving a tanker that exceeds the required weight; one point for double parking in the cities.

Former transport minister and former director of the Jordan Traffic Institute Jamil Ali Mujahed praised the latest step to enforce the Traffic Point System.

“It is a very important and long awaited step especially that the regulations did exist in the past but were not properly implemented,” Mujahed told The Jordan Times.

Mujahed, who also used to be the director of the Traffic Department, said what is more important now is “the proper application of this system and to keep motorists up to date with their driving records and points”.

“It is of extreme importance for drivers to keep track of their driving record because this will surely affect the way they drive and will make them think twice before committing a violation,” Mujahed added.

Social media users also reacted to the new regulations, stressing the need to properly enforce the regulations by the Traffic Department.

Atef Magableh wrote on Facebook saying that he is hopeful the system will be “applied properly so that traffic accidents will decrease and motorists will abide by traffic regulations to spare people’s lives”.

Fares Mohammad added: “Let us hope that this law is not only applied on people who are not well-connected.”

According to Public Security Department statistics, there were 10,835 road accidents in 2016, resulting in 750 deaths and 17,435 injuries. 

The annual cost of traffic accidents in Jordan is $2 billion, accounting for 5.59 per cent of the GDP, according to recent figures released by the Transport Ministry.