MUSCAT: The Royal Oman Police (ROP), in coordination with the traffic authorities of other GCC states, is organising the 26th ‘Road Safety Week’ from March 15.There will be a number of awareness campaigns, seminars, workshops and lectures by experts as part of the traffic week, besides joint efforts in exchanging ideas and expertise among the GCC countries.
This time around, the ROP wants to send out the message “Beware of other people’s
mistakes” in a bid to inculcate defensive driving. Road accidents in Oman are among the highest in the world when compared to the population figures.The number of fatal accidents has also reached alarming levels with more than 1,000 people losing their lives in 2009 in over 7,500 accidents. The dead included pedestrians.
Apart from the alarming number of deaths last year, nearly 11,000 people were injured, many suffering serious head and spinal injuries resulting in death in hospitals.
I have a suggestion for ROP. They should cancel the driving licence of offenders for a certain period. This will work like magic. People can pay the traffic fines or refuse to pay, but they cannot take the frustration of not being able to drive.
I suspect people will still continue to drive even without a license.
Instead of having those speed traps, what they should do is mimic US police where speeders are pulled over and then fined, thereby adding points on your license.
The more points added, the higher your car insurance premiums are.
Or they can legalize marijuana, and have a lot of young drivers stoned, they'll drive slow.