JEDDAH, 21 November 2005 — Saudi authorities are studying a proposal to introduce one-year vehicle registration instead of the current three-year registration. The move, according to Traffic Department Director Brig. Fahd Al-Bishr, is one of the clauses in the new traffic law being discussed by the Shoura Council.

Al-Bishr said his department made the proposal to force motorists to do MVPI (motor vehicle periodic inspection) tests every year to ensure road-worthiness of their vehicles. “This will ensure safety of vehicles and help bring down the accident rate,” Al-Eqtisadiah quoted Al-Bishr as saying.

Once approved, motorists will have to conduct annual MVPI test which is mandatory for the registration renewal. The move will obviously lead to overcrowding at already-overstretched MVPI stations. Brig. Al-Bishr said new MVPI centers would be established in different parts of the country to overcome the problem.

“We provide vehicle owners all facilities and expedite procedures for the issuance and renewal of registration cards,” he told Al-Eqtisadiah.

“We made the new proposal to improve the safety level of vehicles and cut down the number of traffic accidents, which are sometimes caused by worn-out tires and mechanical defects,” he pointed out.

More than 5,000 people die in road accidents in the Kingdom every year. The actual number of deaths is very high because the published figures only represent deaths at scenes of accidents and do not include those who succumb to injuries later.