Bahrain is planning to introduce penalty points for driving offences, it has emerged.

It will mean repeat offenders, who accumulate enough points, will have their licence revoked, General Director of Traffic Shaikh Nasser bin Abdulrahman Al Khalifa told the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

He said the system would be introduced as part of measures to implement a tough new traffic law ratified in July.

"There will be introduction of a point system, similar to the one in the UK," he said.

"We are now drafting the final version, deciding what violation should result in how many points and what the maximum number of points should be before the licence is withdrawn.

"We're also deciding on what time period each infraction should result in - whether it's one month or two, a year or for good.

"All that will be explained to the public when we launch a national campaign in the coming months.

"We expect it will take a year of explaining what the new laws are to Bahraini society.

"Some will be easy to understand - such as increasing fines - but others like the new point system will be harder because it is brand new to Bahrain."

He added the new law would introduce stricter punishments for repeat violators for the first time.

"In the old law, we didn't have something for repeat violators," he said.

"They used to be dealt with the same fine separately each time they committed the violation.

"But now, the fine will increase if the person is a repeat violator."

He predicted the new law is expected to come into effect early next year, possibly by February or March.

The GDN had earlier reported that the new law will quadruple some punishments for motoring offences - including jail terms of up to six months and fines of up to BD500 ($1.318), or both, for deliberately jumping a red light.

It has been pending for seven years and will replace existing legislation dating back 35 years.

Traffic authorities told the GDN that the new law will empower policemen to crack down on dangerous driving, which is causing carnage on Bahrain's roads.

The demerit points system operated in the UK results in drivers getting points on their licences for offences such as speeding, drunk driving, jumping red lights and being at fault in a traffic accident.

If people accumulate 12 points in three years they can then be disqualified from driving.  - TradeArabia News Service