Saudi Arabia: More on culture and driving

April 12, 2007 – Thursday

More on Culture and Driving…
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Category:
Travel and Places

In previous posts I have mentioned that the average Saudi families are much larger than the typical Western families.  In Saudi Arabia it is not at all unusual for a woman to give birth to 6 children (or more…).  And if you think about it, this can present a challenge when driving in the Kingdom with ones family.  It is not at all unusual to see a vehicle (whether a car or SUV) packed with 10 plus individuals.  As a result, there seems to be little regard for child seats or wearing of seat belts.  In fact with so many passengers it is impossible to have a child in a car seat or to ensure that all are indeed wearing seatbelts.  Car Seats and wearing of seat belts are ostensibly laws in the Kingdom but with the high number of passengers coupled with the traditional darkened windows of vehicles, these laws are not stingently enforced.  One often times will see as many as 2 children sitting in the lap of their mother in the front seat with the rest of the family (maybe 7 or more) packed into the back seat.  These factors naturally add to the dangers on the road but I do not envision any  quick solutions or enforcements of the number of passengers per vehicle.

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