Road accidents in Oman dip by 40 per cent in July

Muscat: There was a 40.4 per cent drop in the accident rate across the Sultanate in July this year, compared with July 2017, according to new data from the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
The number of accidents that occurred in July stood at 215, according to figures released by NCSI. Statistics showed that 52 per cent of road accidents occurred at night. The number of fatalities in road traffic accidents stood at 42, of which 33 were Omanis (25 males) and nine were expatriates (all males).
Moreover, 266 people were injured, comprising 200 Omanis and 66 expats.
In July, Muscat accounted for 28.4 per cent of the total number of road accidents, followed by Dhofar at 17.2 per cent, Dakhiliyah at 11.2 per cent, and North Batinah at 10.7 per cent.
According to recent data released by the police, in 2017, a total of 3,845 accidents occurred, down from 4,721 the previous year. Some 640 deaths occurred in 2017, compared with 692 in 2016. Some 3,134 people were injured in 2017, compared with 3,261 people in 2016.
Most of the accidents took place during the day in 2017, with 2,124 accidents, compared with 2,584 in 2016. The number of accidents that occurred during the night in 2017 stood at 1,721, compared with 2,137 in 2016.
As many as 417 Omanis lost their lives in 2017, 89 of them females. The number of expats who lost their lives in road accidents stood at 223.
While 2,353 Omanis were injured in road accidents in 2017, the number was 841 for expats.
Fridays saw the most deaths from road accidents in 2017, with 109 deaths resulting from 532 accidents.
Saturdays came next with 106 deaths, followed by Tuesdays, which recorded 101 deaths from 590 accidents.
November recorded the highest number of accidents in 2017, with 387 accidents. June saw 382 accidents and July saw 361 accidents.
Speeding was still the most common cause of accidents (2,261 in 2017, down from 2,499 in 2016). Negligence (552 compared with 672) and improper behaviour (521 compared with 705) were also leading causes of accidents and deaths on the roads.