(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Road safety continues to remain a matter of grave concern with Sunday's truck accident once again highlighting the high rate of accidents in Oman.
A new study while acknowledging Oman's poor ranking on road safety in GCC has also put the focus on the involvement of heavy vehicles in accidents factoring in reasons that lead to accidents - driver behaviour age road and climate among others. It has been found that in more than half of the cases the driver was at fault and that many did not possess a heavy vehicle driving licence.
The study 'Heavy vehicle crash characteristics in Oman (2009-2011)' published in the Sultan Qaboos University's medical journal's May issue states that of the 22543 road accidents between 2009 and 2011 as many as 3114 involved heavy vehicles. A majority of these were attributed to driver behaviour.
Islam al Bulushi a PhD scholar with the Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety Queensland University of Technology (CARRS-Q) in Australia and The Research Council (Oman) who is the study's lead researcher said 'Crash data from January 2009 to December 2011 was examined and it was found that of the 22543 road accidents that occurred within this timeframe 3114 involved heavy vehicles.' He said that while a majority of these crashes were attributed to driver behaviours a small proportion was attributed to factors relating to the vehicle road and climate. Fatalities were more likely among drivers aged 41-50 years those not wearing seat belts and those not having the correct licence.
'Over the three-year period 2829 people were killed and 31313 others injured' Bulushi said adding that close to 50 per cent of the crashes were reported to involve more than one vehicle. 'Of the total number of crashes 13.8 per cent (3114) involved heavy vehicles. Of these crashes involving heavy vehicle 11.7 per cent led to a fatality – 268 deaths between 2009 and 2011 62.6 per cent led to injuries and 25.7 per cent resulted in no physical harm to those affected.' These crashes also resulted in 2134 individuals being injured.
'Just over half of the drivers involved in heavy vehicle crashes in Oman were under the age of 30 years. Drivers aged 41–50 years were at higher risk of fatalities. Drivers aged 21–30 years (35.8 per cent) and 31–40 years (29.4 per cent) showed a higher proportion of crashes in comparison to drivers aged 41–50 years (20.9 per cent). 52.4 per cent of the accidents did not involve any other vehicle. 'Of the 3114 heavy vehicle crashes 59.7 per cent were deemed as fault of the driver. Of the drivers at fault 46.2 per cent were aged 21–30 years 99.3 per cent were men and over 40 per cent were expatriates.'
A majority of drivers were reported to be wearing the seatbelt (97.7 per cent) and approximately two-thirds were unlicensed or did not hold one appropriate for the job (65.2 per cent). Of these 94.4 per cent held either an Omani light vehicle licence or one from another GCC country; 2.2 per cent held no driving licence at all. As high as 70 per cent of these crashes took place in the daytime and a majority were the result of driving behaviours such as speeding incorrect manoeuvres and not keeping a safe distance from the vehicle ahead.
Only a small number of heavy vehicle crashes were deemed to be the result of fatigue (0.5 per cent) or alcohol (1.8 per cent). The ROP attributed a small number of the crashes (8.8 per cent) to factors other than driver behaviour such as vehicle or road conditions or the climate. A majority of the heavy vehicles involved in these crashes were standard trucks not including tankers and heavy equipment vehicles. Data obtained from ROP's Directorate General of Traffic included details on all ROP-attended heavy vehicle crashes occurring from January 2009 until Decembe
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