Road safety advocates have called for restricted and supervised driving for new drivers, calling for new drivers to spend more time driving with a parent or other responsible adults.
Muscat: Raising the legal age for driving in Oman will save lives, say road safety campaigners in the Sultanate.
Road safety advocates have called for restricted and supervised driving for new drivers, calling for new drivers to spend more time driving with a parent or other responsible adults.
According to Shaima Al Lawati, CEO of Oman Road Safety Association (ORSA), "Driving should be learnt between the ages of 18 and 20 with a learner's permit and parental supervision along with the points system to assess and guide their progress and driving skill development. Only after the teenager passes all the required driving training and acquires the skills, should he or she be allowed to drive alone."
She believes if these rules are followed at the age of 21, there would be mature, fully responsible and independent drivers on roads. The minimum age for obtaining a driving licence in Oman is 18.
"Teenagers who have received a new licence usually cannot wait to drive. The adrenaline is pumping and the desire for adventure is waiting to get out. What new drivers, especially teenagers, are lacking is the experience needed to drive on Oman's streets. We are witnessing a daily routine of accidents even though the accident rate in the Sultanate has decreased," said an observer.
According to the latest report by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), there has been a reduction in accidents by 32.8 per cent during the first six months of 2014.
Shaima Al Lawati feels a need for more restrictions on teenage driving.
"The main factors contributing to accidents worldwide are age, lack of experience, gender (male teens are at greater risk of being fatally injured in a crash than females) and peer pressure," said Al Lawati.
She added, "Other factors contributing to crashes and their severity is the lack of road safety awareness and insufficient law enforcement in addition to worn out roads and vehicles."
According to the laws set by ROP's Traffic Department, if a new driver is involved in an accident within a week of the licence being issued and it is the driver's fault, his or her licence is confiscated for a certain period of time. Drunk driving is also a concern among the community.
"Intoxication also affects the crash probability, with alcohol consumption increasing the likelihood of an inexperienced driver crashing by 2.5 times. Teenage drunk drivers are at more than five times the risk of a fatal crash compared with drunk drivers aged 30 and above.
"Teenage drunk drivers carrying two or more passengers are 34 times more at risk compared to drunk drivers aged 30 years and above," explained Al Lawati.
The law states that anyone speeding and driving recklessly, or under the influence of alcohol or psychoactive drugs, or overtaking unlawfully which could endanger other civilians, will be locked up for no less than 1 year and fined no more than OMR500.
The law goes on to state that if the accident results in the death of an innocent or injures a victim which puts him out of work for more than 10 days, the offender will be sentenced to 1 to 5 years
in prison.
Raising the age limit while applying for a driving licence, could be a solution to ending accidents by teenagers.
Muscat: Raising the legal age for driving in Oman will save lives, say road safety campaigners in the Sultanate.
Road safety advocates have called for restricted and supervised driving for new drivers, calling for new drivers to spend more time driving with a parent or other responsible adults.
According to Shaima Al Lawati, CEO of Oman Road Safety Association (ORSA), "Driving should be learnt between the ages of 18 and 20 with a learner's permit and parental supervision along with the points system to assess and guide their progress and driving skill development. Only after the teenager passes all the required driving training and acquires the skills, should he or she be allowed to drive alone."
She believes if these rules are followed at the age of 21, there would be mature, fully responsible and independent drivers on roads. The minimum age for obtaining a driving licence in Oman is 18.
"Teenagers who have received a new licence usually cannot wait to drive. The adrenaline is pumping and the desire for adventure is waiting to get out. What new drivers, especially teenagers, are lacking is the experience needed to drive on Oman's streets. We are witnessing a daily routine of accidents even though the accident rate in the Sultanate has decreased," said an observer.
According to the latest report by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), there has been a reduction in accidents by 32.8 per cent during the first six months of 2014.
Shaima Al Lawati feels a need for more restrictions on teenage driving.
"The main factors contributing to accidents worldwide are age, lack of experience, gender (male teens are at greater risk of being fatally injured in a crash than females) and peer pressure," said Al Lawati.
She added, "Other factors contributing to crashes and their severity is the lack of road safety awareness and insufficient law enforcement in addition to worn out roads and vehicles."
According to the laws set by ROP's Traffic Department, if a new driver is involved in an accident within a week of the licence being issued and it is the driver's fault, his or her licence is confiscated for a certain period of time. Drunk driving is also a concern among the community.
"Intoxication also affects the crash probability, with alcohol consumption increasing the likelihood of an inexperienced driver crashing by 2.5 times. Teenage drunk drivers are at more than five times the risk of a fatal crash compared with drunk drivers aged 30 and above.
"Teenage drunk drivers carrying two or more passengers are 34 times more at risk compared to drunk drivers aged 30 years and above," explained Al Lawati.
The law states that anyone speeding and driving recklessly, or under the influence of alcohol or psychoactive drugs, or overtaking unlawfully which could endanger other civilians, will be locked up for no less than 1 year and fined no more than OMR500.
The law goes on to state that if the accident results in the death of an innocent or injures a victim which puts him out of work for more than 10 days, the offender will be sentenced to 1 to 5 years
in prison.
Raising the age limit while applying for a driving licence, could be a solution to ending accidents by teenagers.
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