Speeding is the biggest cause of traffic accidents in Oman

Muscat: Some 70 per cent of Oman’s traffic accidents, injuries and deaths were attributed to speeding, a top Royal Oman Police (ROP) revealed.
Brigadier Mohammed Al Rawas, Director General of the Traffic Department at the ROP, said that the number of accidents reduced by 67 per cent, injuries by 33 per cent, and deaths by 52 per cent.
Al Rawas said, “Traffic accidents resulting from speed accounted for more than 70 per cent of the total accidents. Awareness and motorists abiding by speed limits led to the reduction in the number of accidents. Speed radars also contributed to the slash in the number of accidents.”
About the amendment in the executive regulation traffic panel, he clarified that the reduction of accidents required a package of measures, including improvement of the road environment, awareness, and the development of laws.
Safer roads
He added, “The traffic law and its executive regulations came as a result of a study in which everyone participated, making it suitable to make the roads safer and traffic flow smoother for everyone.”
He pointed out that everyone witnessed the inauguration of the traffic service stations in most of the Sultanate’s wilayats, adding, “Everyone can obtain these services without constraint or hardship for long distances, saving time, effort and money, and ensuring easy access to services.”
He further said that ROP received 94 per cent satisfaction on e-services, according to the survey carried out by the General Authority for Information Technology in the Digital Society of Oman (e-government) project.
Al Rawas’ comments coincide with the ROP’s celebration of its Annual Day, which falls on January 5 of each year.
“The fifth of January is one of the brightest days of the ROP march. On this immortal day in 1980, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the Supreme Commander of Oman, inaugurated the Sultan Qaboos Academy for Police Sciences,” he explained.
As many as 417 Omanis lost their lives in 2017 on the nation’s roads. The number of expats who lost their lives as a result of road accidents stood at 223. A further 2,353 were injured in road accidents in 2017, and that total included 841 expats. Fridays saw the most deaths from road accidents in 2017, with 109 deaths from 532 accidents.