KUWAIT: The interior ministry is finalizing a new traffic law that will include tougher penalties and higher fines for violators in a bid to deter offenders amid rising casualty figures, a top officer at the ministry said on Tuesday. “The fine for reckless driving is currently KD 30. It will be KD 150 in the new law, head of the interior ministry public relations Brig Nasser Buslaib said. The fine for running a red traffic light will be tripled from KD 50 to KD 150, he added. He said the law is being finalized by authorities but gave no specific date for enacting it.

Buslaib said Kuwait’s traffic law has not been amended for over 30 years, adding that deaths from traffic mishaps are now between 300 to 400 annually, a majority of them in the age group of 18-30 years. Buslaib added that other administrative penalties will be applied to frequent violators that will include withdrawing their driving licenses and forcing them to undergo a new driving test after accumulating a large number of penalty points.

The traffic department is also studying a new proposal to keep impounded vehicles at the homes of violators instead of keeping them at the interior ministry, he said. On May 30, the interior ministry confirmed that there will be zero tolerance for driving recklessly and endangering the lives of others. “The law will be applied strictly to preserve the safety of road users,” the ministry said, urging residents to report reckless drivers on the emergency hotline (112) or WhatsApp of the General Directorate of Traffic (99324092).

Bad roads and poor driving habits in Kuwait caused 296 deaths and over 50,000 accidents in 2023, while nine million traffic violations were recorded. Violations included over four million speed tickets, 850,000 red-light violations, 300,000 fines for not wearing a seatbelt, as well as over 185,000 booked for using mobile phones while driving.

Meanwhile, Buslaib said as many as 70,000 illegal expats benefitted from the three-month amnesty which ended on June 30, by either legalizing their stay or leaving the country without paying overstay fines. The ministry is currently conducting search campaigns against illegals who failed to avail of the amnesty and security forces have already arrested a number of them, the interior ministry has said. Legal procedures are being taken to deport them. Buslaib said the search campaigns will continue to apprehend violators.