Wednesday 08 / January / 2025
Muscat: The Sultanate of Oman has reported more than 50 percent drop in the number of casualties in traffic accidents across the country in the last 10 years.
Speaking to Shabiba FM, the radio station of Al Shabiba, Lieutenant Colonel Abdullah bin Yahya Al Sarmi, Director of the Traffic Safety Institute at the Royal Oman Police (ROP), said that the number of deaths reported due to traffic accidents was 1,139 in 2012. “But in 2022, that number came down to 525,” he said.
He also said that casualty of traffic accidents decreased due to joint efforts of Royal Oman Police and increasing awareness among drivers.
The Lieutenant Colonel also said that since 2012, ROP started working on a national strategy to reduce traffic accidents.
“The strategy was based on an action plan in May 2011, which the Sultanate of Oman signed along with 82 countries,” he further added.
He also said that the vision of the ROP is to reach zero deaths due to traffic accidents, and this is not achieved by wishful thinking, but rather by the hard work of everyone and the concerted efforts of all.
Lieutenant Colonel Al Sarmi also revealed a decrease in people speeding on Oman roads.
Meanwhile traffic violations will soon be linked among the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to reduce the number of accidents.
The system is undergoing finishing touches and will be implemented shortly.
Elaborating about this, an official at the ROP said, “Each Gulf country has its own server for the traffic system, and we plan to exchange traffic information by linking these servers among the GCC countries.”
This came during the nineteenth meeting of the working group, which was held on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, via video conference in implementation of the decision of the thirty-ninth meeting of their Highnesses and Excellencies, Ministers of Interior of the GCC states, regarding the linking of traffic violations between the GCC countries.
The working group for linking traffic violations in the countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf discussed the beginning stages of the linking process and activating the exchange of traffic violations among the Directorates General for Traffic in the GCC countries, the launch can be expected very soon.
This link would enhance standardisation and exchange of procedures among traffic agencies, according to mechanisms that operate and contribute in reducing accidents and violating traffic rules in the GCC states.
