More mobile cameras on roads from today

EXCLUSIVE — By Kabeer Yousuf — MUSCAT — Those who dodge from the eyes of the speed cameras on the road beware!! The Royal Oman Police (ROP) is all set to hit the roads with more mobile speed cameras which will travel anywhere and everywhere round the clock from today. As many as 90 mobile cameras have been imported from Germany in a bid to tighten the noose on the offenders who tactfully evade the stationary digital eyes on road. “We have imported 90 mobile cameras to monitor Omani roads and will be at work from today”, a source at the Camera Division at the Traffic Department told the Observer. “These sophisticated cameras are capable of producing highly accurate and crystal clear images of the speeding cars”, the source added. These cameras will be in action in all the governorates and wilayats across the country.

Besides the mobile cameras, the ROP is positioning more tower cameras and box ones in all major accident-prone areas in order to let the drivers slow down to the prescribed speed limits. The number of accidents in Oman has showed an 6 per cent increase in 2012 compared to the previous year. In these fatal mishaps, 1,139 lives were lost against 1,056 the previous year. The number of victims living with the injuries has risen by 2 per cent and as many as 11,618 people are living with fractures or with partially or wholly lost limbs. The main reasons behind the escalating number of accidents in Oman despite concentrated efforts to check the same are attributed mainly to failure to use seatbelts, speeding, using mobile phones while driving and fatigue, according to experts. Shaikh Khalfan al Esry, Safety expert and renowned motivational speaker speaking at a recent seminar on safety by Oman LNG has said that the main causes of road accidents in Oman could be eliminated if people paid more attention to safety and made it a priority while driving rather than blaming the occurrence of road accidents on fate and pre-determination.

“Before you start the engine of your car, wear seatbelts, not because of the police but because of yourself. The major villain in the road accidents in Oman is the reluctance of people in wearing seatbelts while being in their vehicles”. He said it doesn’t matter whether you’re sitting in the driver’s seat, passenger seat or the back seats, and whether you are going at a speed of ten kilometres an hour or one hundred kilometres an hour and whether the distance is just around the corner or some 100 kilometres away it is necessary to put your seat belts on before you start your engine. Yet another killer is speeding because the faster you go, the more difficult it is to control your vehicle. Your reaction time in responding to an emergency is also slow, so it’s never safe to speed. It’s better to be late than to never arrive. The other reasons behind the fatalities on roads are the use of mobile phones while driving and fatigue. “Use of mobile phones reduces concentration and drivers see virtually nothing while picking calls or texting and driving simultaneously as they try to balance driving and offering a response in conversations over the mobile phone.