Saudi Arabia will soon bring out a legislation to ban Motorists from using mobile phones, a top official said.

Moshabeb Al Shahrani, general traffic assistant, said the new legislation will explicitly ban any behaviour that could cause driver a distraction or engage him from watching the roads.

'It could be drinking, eating or talking on the phone,” Al Shahrani was quoted as saying in the Arab News.

With this new legislation Saudi Arabia will be in line with 50 other countries that ban motorists from using cell phones.

Twenty-five European countries have enacted mobile phone ban while driving. Saudi Arabia will be the fourth Arab country to impose such a ban. The other three countries are: Bahrain, Jordan and Egypt.

According to an online poll posted by the Traffic Department, 63 per cent of Saudis are in favour of the ban on mobile phones.

“People just don’t seem to understand how distracting these telephone conversations are,” said Fahad Al Dajanea, who works for the Traffic Department.

However, Saleh bin Saban, a professor at King Saud University, said that this would be a difficult adjustment for Saudis who are used to talking on their mobiles while driving.

“Even police officers never stop talking on their phones,” he quipped. TradeArabia News Service