JEDDAH, 2 November 2004 — Road accidents in the Western province have gone up by 20 percent during Ramadan, Brig. Saad Al-Ghamdi of Jeddah Traffic Department told Arab News. He said accident figures tend to peak just before iftar, when people are exhausted, hungry, and in a rush to get home as fast as they can.

“I have no idea why people are behaving so differently in Ramadan even though they are supposed to respect the spirit of the holy month by being patient and tolerant. This happens every Ramadan despite our continued warnings. Motorists tend to speed more than usual and lose their concentration while driving,” he said.

Al-Ghamdi noted that Ramadan is a time of frayed nerves in Saudi Arabia, particularly in the hour preceding iftar when scuffles and traffic accidents multiply, and many people end up breaking their fast either in police stations or hospitals.

His colleague, officer Nasir Al-Jihani, added: “Motorists should be very careful during Ramadan, just as they always should be. Instead of leaving late, they should leave their workplace a little bit early so they reach home for iftar,” he said.

Al-Jihani said the increased number of accidents has led the Traffic Department in cooperation with charity organizations to provide a very light iftar meal to motorists by traffic lights to calm them down.

Al-Ghamdi said, “At that time, many people are being reckless on the road and at the same time they misbehave with others which really makes it very hard to be controlled and, unfortunately, they blame fasting.”