Road accidents fall by 27 per cent

By Mohammed Al Sobhi — MUSCAT: Jan 25 - The number of road accidents fell from 7,829 in 2013 to 4,4448 by the end of 2016, a 27 per cent decrease while road traffic deaths have seen a dropped significantly to 663 by the end of last year from 1,139 deaths registered in 2012, according to a statistics released by Royal Oman Police (ROP). The statistics show that the number of people injured in road accidents registered 3,037 down from 4,178 in the three-year period ending 2016. The number of vehicles registered in the Sultanate stood at 1,310,425 in 2016 up from 987,354 in 2013 while driver’s licenses number rose to 1,349,654 from 1,157,111. These details were disclosed at a seminar held by Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI). Data and indicators released by ROP’s Directorate-General of Traffic show that the traffic safety situation is going to be positive during the coming years and the road accidents will continue to drop. Speaking during the seminar, Brig Engineer Mohammad bin Awad al Rawas Director-General of Traffic at ROP said that traffic accidents have fallen by 50 per cent and injuries by 45 per in the past few years as a result of concerted efforts made by ROP the other public and private establishments. There are two challenges facing traffic safety in the Sultanate one of them is that a number of young Omanis drive at higher speeds passing the speed limit and the other problem is using the phone while driving and this factor causes the majority of road crashes in the Sultanate.  — Photos by Huda al Bahriyah