Muscat: Speeding, overtaking, and bad behavior are major causes of road accidents in 2023, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
Speeding accounted for 304 deaths from 1,009 traffic accidents in 2023, a relative drop from 334 in 2022 and 233 in 2021. It also accounted for 1,037 injuries.
The number of road accidents increased to 1,009 in 2023 from 988 in 2022 and 820 and 2021.
Of the total 595 deaths from traffic accidents in 2023, 103 were due to negligence, 48 due to overtaking, 35 for not leaving a safe distance, and 80 for bad behavior.
At the same time, 245 people suffered injuries due to speeding, 98 due to overtaking, 160 due to not leaving a safe distance, and 418 due to bad behavior.
Weather conditions accounted for four deaths and 20 injuries from 19 accidents.
There were 41 accidents due to drunk driving, which led to four deaths and 30 injuries.
Not leaving a safe distance accounted for 160 injuries from 137 accidents.
Interestingly, bad behavior, which took away 80 lives from 373 accidents also accounted for 418 injuries, an increase from 63 deaths and 433 injuries from 355 accidents in 2022 and 54 deaths and 355 injuries from 282 accidents in 2021.
Vehicle defects led to 56 accidents, resulting in nine deaths and 72 injuries.
It may be noted that insurance companies paid 74,710, 224 claims (vehicle insurance) in 2023, compared to 33,138,788 in 2022 and 44, 189,364 in 2021.
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