Week of activities in Oman to help reduce road accidents

Muscat: Last year, 692 people died on Oman’s roads and almost 3,000 were injured.
Today marks the start of a week long road safety awareness campaign in Oman and across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The 33rd GCC Traffic Week will host a number of activities and traffic awareness events under the theme “Your Life is a Trust”, where the Royal Oman Police will play a role in educating the public about traffic safety, raise awareness, organise lecture and exhibitions as well as conduct competitions during the week.
Brigadier General Eng. Mohammad Awad Al Rawas, Director General of Traffic at the ROP said, “This occasion is important. The traffic departments in the GCC take great importance in traffic safety for the public and we will continue to make the streets safer.”
According to the latest data from the National Centre for Statistics and Information, there have been 318 accidents in January 2017 so far with 251 injuries and 52 deaths.
There were more than 4,219 traffic accidents in Oman last year - that’s more than 87 accidents a week and 12 every single day.
As part of the GCC Traffic Week, Times of Oman took to the streets to expose dangerous and rash driving in the Sultanate.
Video footage had been taken over the past few weeks showing negligence, tailgating, speeding and undertaking which is a common practice on highways and the main reason for accidents, injuries and deaths.