Road accidents and other fatalities have been on the rise in Oman in the past days, prompting experts to emphasise the importance of respecting traffic rules, particularly during the summer when temperatures soar.
In just a week's time, seven people lost their lives on Salalah road while a drowning incident in Wadi Darbat was reported. In addition, three of a family lost their lives on Al Jabal Al Akhdhar and a girl drowned in Batinah Governorate.
"Reckless driving, fatigue, mobile phone usage and wrong manoeuvring are the major causes of road mishaps while neglecting the signboards near the beaches is said to be the cause of drowning incidents," a top civil defence personnel said.
The number of accidents reached nearly 76,200 in 2022, of which 15,300 were major accidents and 60,900 are minor accidents, an increase by 15.5 per cent compared to the previous year.
However, over the last decade, there has been a drop of more than 50 per cent in the number of casualties in traffic accidents across the country.
The number of deaths due to RTA (Road Traffic Accidents) was 1,139 in 2012 but by 2022, it came down to 525.
This achievement was due to a strategy based on an action plan which the Sultanate of Oman signed along with 82 countries in May 2011.
"The Royal Oman Police envisions to reach zero deaths due to traffic accidents, and this cannot be achieved by wishful thinking, but rather by the hard work of everyone and the concerted efforts of all hence, safety is a joint responsibility of the people and the authorities," said an ROP official.
DROWNING
Two lost their lives last year in Mughsail beach after they lost control while taking selfies and fell into the sea whereas another one lost life in Barka, less than six months ago.
The Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority (CDAA) said that the water rescue teams dealt with 521 calls of drowning accidents in 2021.
In most of the cases, the victims of drowning are children which is mostly due to the result of negligence and lack of supervision by parents. It is reported that many of them either attempted to cross the swamps of water or running wadis or were playing in the swimming pools in farms and rest houses without knowing the danger involved resulting in loss of many human lives.
Swimming in undesignated areas such as dams, water channels and water-logged areas, leaving children unattended near water surfaces, and non-abidance by the safety instructions urged by the CDAA also constitute the number of drowning incidents in the country.
Drowning incidents in Oman have reached 211 or 1.42 per cent of total deaths and the age adjusted death rate is 4.91 per 100,000 of population ranking Oman 26 in the world.
In order to shed more light on safety in the seas and other water bodies, the United Nations General Assembly for World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged all to observe July 25 as World Drowning Prevention Day.
This is to coordinate actions within the UN system on drowning prevention and facilitate the observance of World Drowning Prevention Day on 25 July each year.
Accordingly, certain precautions are advised before taking a leap into the water. They include keeping away if there is a board prohibiting swimming, avoiding crossing wadis (valleys) and low-lying areas when it is raining and a better role by parents in saving their children from drowning and make sure that their children are playing in their supervision.
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