SALALAH, May 8 - In this age of high-speed information people need to control their car speed and stick to road safety, as the problem becomes more pronounced during Ramadhan when fasting people are prone to fatigue, exhaustion, impatience and distraction.
Ali al Barwani, CEO of Oman Road Safety Association (ORSA), cited mobile phones as carriers of high speed information, which not only distract the driver, it raises the driver’s excitement over good or bad information and makes him prone to accidents.
“Talking about the road safety is more meaningful during Ramadhan because the motorists who are fasting have high risk of fatigue, exhaustion, impatience and distraction. They need to adopt a strategy to avoid these factors by avoiding peak hour driving, following the rules and proper maintenance of their vehicles,” said Al Barwani.
He cited temperatures soaring at 40 to 42 degrees Celsius (in Muscat) too hot even for those who are not fasting, to hit the road. Those who are fasting have reason to be distracted and any small distraction can cause inconvenience to many others and its cascading effect is accident and fatal accident sometimes.
Any accident, according to him, has three elements: road, vehicle and driver. Accidents happen due to imbalance in any of these three elements, in which the driver plays a key role. It is the driver who can avoid an accident by his prudence and right behaviour. “It is he who can decide to drive at a proper speed to manage the road and it is only he who has to keep his car in order to avoid mid-road accident.”
“These theories of right driving apply all the time but they become more relevant during Ramadhan because one accident is enough to affect so many people on the road. One accident can cause traffic jam, which ultimately can cause fatigue and exhaustion to many others on the road. So this becomes our responsibility during Ramadhan to drive safe and ensure that our vehicles are maintained properly to avoid any mid-road snag,” said Al Barwani.
High temperature demands extra care for a vehicle to hit the road. “Like, you should check beforehand that your vehicle does not over heat and its tyres have not expired. In both the cases there are fair chances of accident.”
“The Royal Oman Police (ROP) is doing great job by creating awareness among people even during Ramadhan, but road safety should not only be the job of regulation agencies. People should try to learn their role, follow rules and should understand that behind the wheels they are the custodians of a safe road,” said Al Barwani.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
