News from Saudi Arabia - Camels and cars

The Saudi govenment is trying to cut down on the nuber of deaths on its roads caused by the nearly half a million camels that roam its deserts.

There are some 600 accidents and up to 150 deaths annually, most of them occuring at night time.

A campaign that saw huge triangular signs erected, warning of the potential hazard seems to have had little effect on the number of  accidents.

A spokesman, Ali Al-Ghamdi said that,

'The camels just don't seem to take any notice of the signs. It's as if they can't read or something'.

He remains optimistic however, that a new road safety campaign with large neon signs may have more success in reducing the overall number of accidents.

yechydda,