FEATURE
ROAD SAFETY AT THE FORE
“Dhofar Municipality, in coordination with the competent authorities, is evaluating and implementing ways to provide appropriate visibility for road users, and preparing road designs in line with road design guide to reduce road accidents caused by human mistakes,” says His Excellency Sheikh Salim bin Aufait Al Shanfari, Chairman, Dhofar Municipality
O
ver the past years, Dhofar Municipality has performed tremendous efforts and effective measures to enhance traffic safety culture in Dhofar Governorate. Through these efforts, the Municipality is confirming that the roles played by municipalities are not limited to beautification, landscaping and lighting only, but also it plays a vital role in reducing traffic jams in addition to implementing major projects aimed at achieving traffic safety in Dhofar. His Excellency Sheikh Salim bin Aufait Al Shanfari, Chairman of Dhofar Municipality, has affirmed that the Dhofar Municipality has taken practical measures in 2010 to reduce road accidents in the governorate. Al Shanfari informed that the Municipality has solved the sites where there were recurrence of road accidents through effective and innovative solutions. “Speed breakers have been implemented on the various roads and residential areas. Besides, road signs were
implemented and maintained with the intention to control and organise the traffic movement. Lighting was also implemented in most of the main and internal road network in order to provide an appropriate vision for road users,” Al Shanfari said. He also added that the Municipality has made significant efforts to develop and intensify traffic awareness in modern and effective ways through publishing awareness brochures describing the causes and risks caused by road accidents, which were distributed to school students and community members. Awareness lectures on traffic safety were also delivered in a number of schools in the governorate as well as live interviews were conducted on radio shows. “Based on the membership of Dhofar Municipality in the National Committee for Road Safety, the Municipality has sought to carry out awareness programmes aimed at reducing traffic accidents and
...The future plans of the National Committee for Road Safety endeavour to reduce traffic accidents in Oman 28 DOSSIER October 2011
raising awareness among the society members. Besides, a number of seminars and lectures on the roles played by the National Committee for Road Safety were held in Dhofar, which have contributed in providing data and statistics related to road safety to the public.” Al Shanfari stressed that the main task of the committee is to develop a unified and comprehensive strategy to reduce traffic safety accidents and address their serious impact. “The committee conducts thorough studies on traffic accidents to determine their causes and identify their social and economic effects for the Omani society. It also evaluates the traffic awareness programmes and plans, and measures to improve engineering and environmental factors for the purpose of achieving road safety.” He also informed that the future plans of the National Committee for Road Safety endeavour to reduce traffic accidents in Oman, develop a national strategic plan for traffic safety including the participation of competent authorities in an attempt to unify efforts done in the field. He affirmed that the Committee looks forward for the concerned authorities to review and assess the regulations of the speed limits on main roads, districts, residential and commercial areas in order to minimise road accidents.