Irbid police seize nine cars over ‘reckless driving’

AMMAN — Irbid police seized nine cars in connection with charges of reckless driving in the northern city earlier this week. 

The vehicles were seized late Sunday after police received complaints from city residents, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

A police statement carried by Petra said the street drifters will be referred to the governor for legal action, and quoted Irbid Governor Saad Shihab as saying that security agencies will intensify efforts to end the phenomenon of street drifting in the city, some 80km north of Amman.

Shihab said the authorities will carry out campaigns targeting irresponsible drivers, calling on residents to report such cases to the police. 

Street drifters are usually seen at night in an area called the “industrial city”, where car repair shops and garages are found. 

They also use Petra Street, which links Irbid with the Jordan University of Science and Technology, in addition to roads near the Amman-Irbid bus station. 

Mohammad Batayneh, from Irbid’s Hakama neighbourhood, has previously complained to The Jordan Times that a group of young motorists always meets late at night on a street close to his house to “perform doughnuts”, noting that the way they drive poses a threat to the lives of other motorists.

“They are very noisy. Residents here hesitate to go down and talk to them just to avoid engaging in brawls,” Batayneh said. 

In March this year, a video of street drifters blocking a tunnel in Amman that went viral on social media prompted police to intensify campaigns targeting reckless drivers.

A few days after the circulation of the video, Amman traffic police seized 70 vehicles on charges of driving recklessly.
The drivers of the vehicles, including one woman, were each fined JD100 and their cars impounded for 48 hours.