Oman transport: Fresh warnings from ROP against using mobile phone while driving

Muscat: Royal Oman Police (ROP) continues to warn drivers against mobile phone use while driving with just days remaining until new traffic laws come into force.
There are never enough warnings to drivers against using mobile phones while driving as the ROP reiterates the dangers via social media. “The chance of getting into an accident increases multiple times when drivers start talking on the phone,” said the ROP in a tweet.
“Using the phone while driving is an extremely dangerous task that could cost your life as well as others,” the tweet added.
The new traffic law states in Article 49 that using hands to carry a phone or any electronic device of that sort will land you in jail for up to 10 days or a fine of up to OMR300. Safety experts also recently called for all drivers to buy hands-free headsets or Bluetooth headsets if they want to take a call while driving, which are inexpensive.
Using the phone while driving is not only limited to talking. Texting is an even bigger danger to drivers and those around them.
A study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) called “The Impact of Hand-Held and Hands-Free Cell Phone Use on Driving Performance and Safety Critical Event Risk” found that text messaging, browsing and dialing resulted in the longest duration of drivers taking their eyes of the road.
“Text messaging increased the risk of a crash or near-crash by two times and resulted in drivers taking their eyes off the road for an average of 23 seconds total,” said the study.
“There is no direct increased crash risk from the specific act of talking on a cell phone. However, visual-manual tasks such as locating the phone, looking at the phone and touching the phone, are always involved when using a hand-held cell phone.
“This makes the overall use of a hand-held cell phone riskier when driving,” it added.
The US Department of Transportation’s Distracted Driving Global Fact Sheet states that “distracted drivers are about four times as likely to be involved in crashes as those who are focused on driving. Drivers who are texting can be more than 20 times more likely to crash than non-distracted drivers.”
The fact sheet also stated that “by 2030, road traffic injuries are projected to be the fifth leading cause of death worldwide, surpassing HIV/AIDS, all forms of cancer, violence, and diabetes.”