Another predictable Eid postscript was the weekend body count from the carnage on the roads.  Four people perished on the Kingdom’s highways and byways over the holiday. One of the dead, from the southern governorate of Karak, was an infant. sadly, I can almost predict the circumstances leading to this near footnote of a tragedy. A family, possibly the entire extended family, piles into the only car possessed by the clan in order to make the compulsory rounds of holiday visits. The vehicle itself may be 10-15 years old and certainly short on safety features with a probably factory recommended occupancy limit of five. Nevertheless, in an effort to accommodate every last member and child, the mother or aunt wedges herself into the front seat a clamps the infant in her lap, believing that her arms will be sufficient to protect this most precious of bundles. Moving the seat forward to accomodate the other children and cousins layered across the back seat, the distance between the child’s head and the dashboard eclipses faster than the winter sun. Maybe it was a poorly marked speed bump or a cell-phone call that had to be answered but whatever the precipitant the result was as is printed in black and white. Speed is unneccessary here, simply the quick application of the breaks or a shallow punch to the read-end and the infant either catapults through the windshield or is crushed against the dash.  Either way, a life is extinguished and others are shattered simply for want of adequate transport, spacious, affordable vehicles and diligent enforcement of child safety laws.

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