King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has piled up 14 traffic fines of more than Dh7,700 in his Gulf kingdom and most of them involved speeding.
A Saudi man trying to settle his traffic fines at a payment machine at the kingdom’s traffic police was shocked to see the 14 fines were in the name of King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz when he pressed the wrong number.
Instead of resetting the machine to log on his traffic fines account, Abdullah Duweihan decided to pay all the fines for the Monarch.
Local newspapers said King Abdullah, in his 80s, had committed 14 traffic fines worth SR7,800 (Dh7,725) and most of them involved speed, shot by Saher speed camera system, which was introduced by the world’s oil superpower two years ago in a bid to curb reckless driving.
“When I saw the King’s name, I had a mixed feeling of fear, amazement and happiness…I thought for a while and then decided to pay all the fines for His Majesty,” Abdullah said on the Saudi Khaleejia television, which broadcast a 4.5-minute U-Tube film showing the King’s traffic fines paid by Abdullah.
“I am very delighted to have done this…and I want to say that these fines clearly demonstrate the strong democratic nature of the Monarch…I mean that the law is above all and anything which applies to the people also applies to the Monarch…that is why he is beloved by all.”