A crackdown has been urged on motorists who misuse emergency lanes on highways.
Five MPs, led by Dr Muneer Suroor, have submitted an urgent proposal calling for technology-driven enforcement to protect the yellow line reserved for ambulances, Civil Defence and other first responders.
Proposed measures include expanding AI-backed smart cameras to detect violations and redesigning highways to curb what they describe as a life-threatening and increasingly common offence.
The urgent proposal, tabled in Parliament’s final sitting of the term, has been referred to the foreign affairs, defence and national security committee for review.
Dr Suroor warned that during peak congestion, some motorists routinely misuse the emergency lane to avoid traffic.
“This is not a minor violation. Using the yellow line to skip queues puts lives at risk,” he said. “These lanes are a lifeline for ambulances and security patrols. In critical situations, seconds matter.”
Despite existing penalties, MPs say the behaviour persists because enforcement relies mainly on traditional ticketing rather than real-time prevention.
“Successful traffic solutions today do not rely on punishment alone. They rely on smart, proactive systems that detect, deter and prevent the violation before it happens,” Dr Suroor said. “We must combine deterrence, technology and engineering.”
Dr Suroor
The explanatory memorandum attached to the proposal states that yellow-lane encroachment delays emergency response times and increases accident risks.
The MPs are therefore calling for programmed AI-assisted monitoring of emergency lanes, automatic violation detection via smart cameras with immediate alerts of fines to discourage drivers and further use traffic engineering with regards to road design shaping to ensure the offence is not committed. These designs – such as rumble strips – focus on making the shoulder uncomfortable, dangerous, or legally prohibited for driving, while maintaining its utility for emergency stopping.
“We need systems that make this behaviour impossible, not just illegal,” Dr Suroor stressed.
The MPs argue that Bahrain’s ongoing investment in smart systems can be extended to highways to preserve the integrity of emergency corridors.
The Interior Ministry has been trialling 500 AI-powered traffic cameras since November. The cameras – supplied by Beyon Solutions – are designed to detect unsafe driving through advanced analytics as part of Bahrain’s wider smart-city drive.
Traffic accidents claimed 76 lives in Bahrain last year, with men accounting for more than three-quarters of the fatalities, as reported in this newspaper.
According to the Information and eGovernment Authority’s Bahrain Open Data Portal (data.gov.bh), the kingdom registered 968 accidents across the four governorates – 66 of which were fatal.
A total of 318,296 violations were recorded last year – 1,267 for driving without a licence and 347 for driving under influence while 72,468 tickets were handed for speeding, and 4,524 for parking violations. The remaining were described as ‘other violations’.
Tougher penalties, including fines and imprisonment for serious offences, came into effect last August, but MPs argue that yellow-lane violations require a different enforcement philosophy.
“Some drivers now treat the emergency lane as an extra road during traffic jams. This increases the likelihood of accidents and directly affects the efficiency of health and security responses,” Dr Suroor said.
“The yellow lane is a vital artery. Blocking it, even for a minute, can cost a life.”
The foreign affairs, defence and national security committee will now study the proposal and submit recommendations to the government.
mohammed@gdnmedia.bh
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