An upcoming conference and exhibition will focus on increasing motor vehicle accident rate in Oman and will highlight the importance of road safety.

The TransOman, Transportation, Innovation and Challenges Conference, will be held from October 13 to 15 at Oman International Exhibition Centre. The conference will be held in conjunction with the TransOman Exhibition on October 14 and 15 at The Golden Tulip Muscat.

The conference will tackle issues such as the worrying Oman’s fatality rate due to traffic accidents, which is at 28/100 000 people with the world average at 19/100 000. Statistics for the last eight years stand at an alarming 6000 deaths and 70,000 injuries, with an average of 750 deaths and 8750 injuries, some permanently disabled, per year.

“Road Safety is a major concern to all Omanis and we hope to bring it to the forefront of everyone’s attention at the TransOman conference,” said Dr Wahid Al-Kharusi, president of the Oman Road Safety Organisation.

“Platforms such as these are valuable tools to get one’s message across and we believe that the inaugural TransOman Conference and Exhibition is a step in the right direction for Oman.”

Currently Oman is experiencing alarming year on year growth in numbers of recorded road accident deaths. 2009 has already shown a 9 per cent increase up to this period on previous years. While 9 per cent may seem like a small percentage it equates to six more people dying on Oman’s roads each month, which at current trends will mean that seventy-two more people will die before the end of the year than in previous years.

“It is important to tackle things directly and by opening up a constructive discussion we may be able to create solutions to curb this increase (in accident rates) that we see currently,” explained Dr Kharusi.

What seems to be an inherent problem is the dangerous driving of trucks within the Sultanate. On more than one occasion accidents have been caused when trucks with heavy loads either shift across lanes to overtake slower vehicles or lose control due to higher than recommended speeds.

“Accidents do not just happen, they are caused,” said Rajiv Bhatia, general manager for Middle East Shipping and Transport, sponsors and exhibitors at TransOman.

“They incur great losses on account of human life and influence the entire strata of society besides the loss of material and time. Safety, therefore, is an effective and cheap insurance policy which we all can take immediately without paying any premium.” 

“We hope to see many participants at both the TransOman Conference and the Exhibition in October, as with a high level of participation we will be able to have a valuable and constructive outcome to this important topic,” said Al Kharusi.

“Furthermore, the industry’s future developments and opportunities must ensure we embrace global best practices in safety standards,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service