Tuesday 16 / September / 2025
Muscat: Road safety experts have urged motorists to drive safely around schools as more than 720,000 students have returned to their classes to begin their new academic year for 2022/ 2023.
The advisory comes after a 16-year-old student was run over by a vehicle while crossing the road in Muscat Governorate on the first day of the school year in Oman.
The 10th grade student, Hoor bint Hatem Al-Sidiya, was run over by a vehicle leading to her death after she alighted from the school bus in front of her home in Mabela. On its twitter account, Umm Waraqah Al-Ansari School, said: “The school administration and the faculty mourn student Hoor bint Hatem Al-Sidiya, who (was) enrolled in the tenth grade (and) passed away today and (the school) extends its deepest condolences and sympathy to the student’s family.”
Speaking exclusively to Times of Oman, Major Mudar Al Mazrouei of the Royal Oman Police (ROP) spoke about the measures taken by the ROP for the safety of school students in all governorates of the Sultanate.
He said: “The Royal Oman Police had maintained extra vigil on the first day of the academic year for the safety of students, through the deployment of police on all road courses, bridges and crowded places and in front of some schools to ensure smooth movement of school buses, as well as to prevent traffic accidents. This is a continuous campaign not only on the first day of school but throughout the school year, to ensure the safety of students.”
He confirmed that the Royal Oman Police, represented by the Directorate General Traffic, oversees the safety of about 5,000 to 7,000 male and female students in the Governorate of Muscat alone and this the ROP does through the deployment of police cars in congested areas. The enormity of the task being carried out by the ROP can well be imagined by the fact that these efforts have to be extended to all governorate of the Sultanate.
He added: “There are 11 traffic institutes distributed over 11 governorates of the Sultanate. The ROP teaches all school bus drivers about driving skills, student pick-up and drop-off points. Besides, they are told to make sure that buses are empty after all students have dropped off and stick to instructions while the bus is moving. This course lasts for two weeks.”
Major Al Mazrouei said there is an extensive campaign carried out by the Royal Oman Police, represented by the Directorate General Traffic, to publish awareness messages on social media or in schools and traffic institutes, for the students, school bus drivers, road users and also students’ families. He stressed that this awareness campaign will continue until the end of the school year 2022/2023.
Major Mudar also said that police patrols are spread out in several places, including in front of secondary schools and schools for students of the first cycle who were transferred from private schools for children under the age of 7 to government schools, as well as at road intersections, at roundabouts, bridges and crowded places, and the ROP is working on this in most governorates.
Major Mudar urged motorists to be careful while driving their vehicles, not to be distracted by phone calls, and to focus on driving, especially in residential areas and in front of schools.
Major Mudar urged motorists to be careful while driving their vehicles, not to be distracted by phone calls, and to focus on driving, especially in residential areas and in front of schools.
Eng Ali Ahmed Al Barwani, former CEO of the Oman Road Safety Foundation, also spoke to Times of Oman about road safety, saying: “We received the news of the death of the female student, Hoor, who is in the tenth grade, with sadness and sorrow, and we are surprised by the reason for the recurrence of these traffic accidents annually. We cannot say that this is a decree of God, rather, we must study the causes and find out where the problem lies.”
Al Barwani continued: “There are several factors that must be thoroughly gone into. The school bus driver, the vehicle driver, the students and the students’ families — all must bear responsibility. The bus driver must study the points and places where the students can board or get off the buses, especially in residential areas. He must also assess the safety of the site, its proximity to the house, the absence of other problems at the site and others.”
Al Barwani continued: “The driver of the vehicle must also ensure that the vehicle is empty after the students have finally disembarked.”
Al Barwani also stressed that motorists should pay attention while driving their vehicles and not be busy with anything else, be it the phone, the radio, etc. They should neither eat nor drink while driving, and they should also reduce speed in residential areas and in front of schools.
