EPDCIT
Level 2
Jan - June 2014 semester
MAJAN COLLEGE (UNIVERSITY COLLEGE)
FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
STUDENT ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET
Module Name
English for Professional Development and
Communication in IT (EPDCIT) Level 2
Module Code
CC22-2
Assessment No.
2a
Assessment Type and weighting:
Individual Report (30%)
STUDENT MCUC NUMBER:
Please note that a grade will only be given to those
whose student number is noted on this form. Please
ensure that the student numbers from all group
members are recorded accurately.
Assessment Date:
6pm Sunday 4th May 2014
MODULE COORDINATOR:
Mr. Philip Barber
MODULE TUTOR:
Dr Tulika
DECLARATION
• The work contained in this assignment is my own and that all materials and sources used
have been acknowledged.
• I/We have not copied or colluded in part or in whole, or otherwise plagiarised the work of
other students.
• This assignment has not been submitted for previous assessment in any other subject or to a
substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other unit, module, degree or
diploma of a university or any other institute, except where due acknowledgement is made in
the text.
• I/We confirm that I/we have read, understood and followed the guidelines for assignment
submission and presentation provided by the lecturer.
• I/We understand that this assignment may be retained on the database and used to make
comparisons with other assignments in future.
• I/We have made a copy of my assignment
• This work may be photocopied and/or communicated for the purpose of identifying
plagiarism.
• I/We give permission for a copy of this marked assignment to be retained by the faculty of
Business Management for the purpose of course reviews by external examiners and to be
used as a resource by Majan College.
• I/We understand that unauthorized late submission without a valid written extension will be
marked as per the college policy mentioned in the students handbook page 18 section 18.5.
Majan College (University College)
Page 1
EPDCIT
Level 2
Jan - June 2014 semester
English for Professional Development and Communication in Information
Technology CC22-2
Assessment Type: Individual
Assessment Weighting: 30%
Task
Assessment 2a is in the form of an individual business report. Students will be provided with three
articles on a current news topic. Using skills that they have been taught during the module, students
will have to analyse the articles and produce a 2,000 word business report using the structure and
format that they have been taught in class.
Students are strongly recommended to submit a plan followed by a draft to their tutor
prior to submission.
How you will be assessed:
The assessment is split into five sections and the total marks available are 100, which will be
allocated as follows:
Concept and Layout = 20%
Analysis and Development = 20%
Structure = 20%
Language = 20%
Academic Skills = 20%
See Appendix 1 for further details.
Marks will be deducted from reports that are submitted +/- 10% of the 2,000 word limit.
Majan College (University College)
Page 2
EPDCIT
Level 2
Jan - June 2014 semester
Additional Guidelines
The Assignment Submission link on MOVE will be open, a week ahead of the submission date.
You can submit your assignment multiple times, till the submission deadline. Note that Turnitin
could take up to 24 hours to produce similarity reports for submissions.
The last submission, within the deadline, will be considered as your final submission.
Assignments should be submitted by 6 pm on the day of the deadline. There is a grace period
until midnight to allow for technical difficulties, but any assignment submitted after this will be
considered as a late submission. Technical problems will not be accepted as an excuse for a
late submission.
The similarity percentage of your final submission will be one of the factors considered, for
assessing the originality of your assignment. However, the decision to report an assignment for
plagiarism is taken by the Lecturers, who mark your assignment.
The Lecturers will consider a number of factors such as Assignment type, part of the assignment
where similarity occurs, nature of similarity etc., along with the similarity percentage of your
assignment to assess the originality of your assignment. Therefore, similarity percentage
would not be accepted as a basis for disputing academic judgments regarding plagiarism.
Note that the similarity percentage of your submission can change till the submission deadline, if
the submissions of other students have similarity to your assignment. Therefore, the similarity
percentages are not final, till the assignment submission is closed.
Plagiarism and Academic misconduct
The following regulations apply to course assessments and examinations. Plagiarism means taking
and claiming the work of others as your own, without acknowledging the author or source. At
induction you will be shown how to reference properly. You should make sure you adopt the
Harvard referencing system for your work. Please refer to your Student Handbook page 41 section
7.2 for further information on Harvard referencing Style.
Copying the work of other students and presenting it as your own can result in a ‘Fail’ for all
students concerned, including the student who produced the original work. It is acceptable and often
helpful; to discuss ideas with other students, but where submitted work is mere reproduction and
repetition of others' words and ideas, then it counts as copying. Your written reports MUST be
entirely from your own effort. This consideration applies just as strictly when students have been
working together on the execution of coursework exercises. See the penalties in the student’s
handbook page 30 section 5.6
Majan College (University College)
Page 3
EPDCIT
Level 2
Jan - June 2014 semester
Although grades may be awarded on the basis of marks in some assessments, students
should note that both marks and grades will be awarded on the basis of the assessment
criteria for each grade.
GRADE
GRADE
POINT
GENERAL ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
DESCRIPTION
D-
5
E
4
F
2
F-
1
•
An outstanding piece of work.
Shows evidence of wider reading and originality
Strongly analytical. All important points are covered.
Arguments should be supported by examples and
evidence, objectively presented and evaluated,
Well structured and well written, without noticeable
grammatical or other errors.
Correctly referenced
Very good work.
All main points will have been covered, though minor
issues may have been omitted.
The work will be analytical, balanced and soundly
based.
Examples and supporting evidence should have been
included.
The writing should be essentially correct, without
major grammatical or other errors.
Generally referenced correctly.
Generally good work.
Most points will have been covered, but many finer
points will generally have been missed.
Shows limited reading.
Arguments/analysis should be basically well structured
and balanced with relevant examples, but with errors
and gaps.
The writing is clear, but has errors that nevertheless
do not obscure the meaning.
Referencing will be present but may at times be
inaccurate or insufficient.
Satisfactory.
Shows sufficient grasp of the subject to be acceptable.
Tends to be descriptive.
Examples and evidence is likely to be weak and
limited.
Shows limited reading.
Referencing is likely to be absent or very poorly
carried out.
Unsatisfactory/ Compensable fail.
Serious errors and omissions.
Very little analysis
Work of a very poor standard with little relevant
information and/or serious errors.
Work containing little of merit
G
0
•
No work submitted
A+
16
A
15
Excellent
•
•
•
•
14
•
B+
13
•
•
•
B
12
A-
•
Very Good
B-
11
C+
10
C
9
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Good
C-
8
•
•
D+
7
D
6
Pass
•
•
•
•
•
•
Refer
Fail
Majan College (University College)
•
•
•
•
Page 4
EPDCIT
Level 2
Jan - June 2014 semester
Terms of Reference
You are a road traffic safety expert and you have been asked to produce a business
report of approximately 2,000 words titled; "Road Traffic Accidents in the
Arabian Gulf: What are the causes and effects and how can road safety be
improved to prevent them?", The report needs to address the questions in the
title whilst comparing and contrasting the data from the following three articles:
"Causes and effects of road traffic accidents in Saudi Arabia", "Increased
motorization and Road Traffic Accidents in Oman", and " Strategy to improve road
safety in developing countries."
This report has been requested by the Minister of Transport and Communications
of Oman HE Dr. Ahmed Al-Futaisi and has to be submitted by 6pm on Sunday 4th
May, via Turnitin.
A business report writing structure should be used to present this report and
recommendations will be expected to be produced to address the questions in the
title.
Majan College (University College)
Page 5
Public Health (2000) 114, 37±39
ß R.I.P.H.H. 2000
www.nature.com/ph
Causes and effects of road traf®c accidents in Saudi Arabia
S Ansari*, F Akhdar, M Mandoorah and K Moutaery
Department of Neurosciences, Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
In Saudi Arabia the motor vehicle is the main means of transportation. Between 1971 and 1997; 564 762 people died or
were injured in road traf®c accidents, a ®gure equivalent to 3.5% of the total population in Saudi Arabia. During this
period 66 914 people have died on the roads in Saudi Arabia due to road accidents, amounting to one person killed and
four injured every hour. Over 65% of accidents occur because of vehicles travelling at excess speed and=or drivers
disobeying traf®c signals.
Of deaths in Ministry of Health hospitals, 81% are due to road traf®c accidents and 20% of their beds are occupied by
traf®c accidents victims. Also, 79.2% of patients admitted to Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital with spinal injuries has
sustained their injuries as a result of a motor vehicle accident.
We recommend compulsory use of safety seat belts in vehicles and the setting up of a new database to collect, store
and analyse information relating to the road traf®c accidents. Public Health (2000) 114, 37±39.
Keywords: road traf®c accidents (RTA); mortality rates; injury rates; vehicle speeding; traf®c signal violations; seat
belt use; Saudi Arabia
Introduction
The problem of road traf®c accidents (described by the
WHO as a cost of modernisation) is becoming an
internationally recognised concern. Road traf®c accidents,
i.e. accidents involving a motor vehicle with another
vehicle, animal or pedestrian are becoming increasingly
common in Saudi Arabia.1 They are a major cause of
morbidity and mortality at a rate which is on a level with
heart diseases and cancer.2,3 There has been a progressive
increase in vehicle accidents within Saudi Arabia which
corresponds to the increase in the number of registered
vehicles over the past two decades (Figure 1). Since 1992,
the number of reported traf®c accidents has suddenly
Figure 2 Cause of accidents in Saudi Arabia for the decades
1970, 1980, 1990 (by percentage of whole).
Figure 1 Number of accidents recorded by number of vehicles
registered (in thousands) for Saudi Arabia for the years 1971 ±
1994 inclusive.
*Correspondence: Dr Sohail Ansari, W-939 Riyadh Armed Forces
Hospital, PO Box 7897, Riyadh 11159, Saudi Arabia.
Accepted 30 April 1999
increased throughout Saudi Arabia. This is partly due to the
change in methods of registering traf®c accidents. Previously, some accidents went unreported either to the
police or to the Ministry of Health hospitals. Legislation
passed at this time, which made it compulsory to report
accidents to the police and for the victims to attend the
designated Ministry of Health hospital, would be expected
to be responsible for the sudden increase in accidents
recorded. Computerised information technology is now
being used by the traf®c engineering department to
maintain a national data base for these accidents. This
has mostly replaced the previous practice of keeping
handwritten records. In 1971, 5483 vehicular accident
injuries were recorded: this ®gure had increased six fold for
the year 1994, for which 32 133 injuries were recorded.
Recorded deaths from vehicular accidents increased
from 570 in 1971 to 4077 in 1994, a seven fold increase.
Excess speed and violation of traf®c signals are major
Causes=effects RTA in Saudia Arabia
S Ansari et al
38
causes of traf®c accidents (Figure 2).3 In addition to
fatalities, such traf®c accidents also cause disability and a
drain on the health resources.
Causes of traf®c accidents
The causes of traf®c accidents in Saudi Arabia can be
divided into: general and speci®c causes.
General causes
1. A large increase in the number of vehicles and
expansion of road networks within and between cities.
2. Large national development projects which require the
development of supporting transport systems.
3. Increased number of expatriates from different countries
with different habits and culture who are unfamiliar with
local driving conditions and requirements.
2. Signal violation accidents are 4.5 times more common
than in the USA.
3. Overtaking from the wrong side in Saudi Arabia is eight
times more common than in USA. Making an incorrect
U turn (turning the vehicle through 180 ) is also much
more common in Saudi Arabia.
Effects of traf®c accidents
Motor vehicle accidents have social, medical and economic
effects on an individual. The average estimated cost of
accidents in Saudi Arabia every year is SR 21 billion. In
industrial countries the gross loss, due to accidents, is 1 ±
2% of the national income. In Saudi Arabia, an estimated
loss of between 2.2% and 9% of the national income has
been suggested.5 Also loss of a family member leads to
change in family dynamics bringing about ®nancial and
emotional problems.
Speci®c causes
1. Most accidents occurred as a result of driver error.
2. Over 50% of the traf®c accidents are due to excess
speed and violation of signals at intersections (Figure 2).
3. Road safety and vehicle condition contribute to
accidents, particularly those on open roads.
Therefore errors and negligence of drivers contribute
signi®cantly to traf®c accidents throughout Saudi
Arabia.
Analysis of the spinal cord injury patients admitted to
Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital's Spinal Unit showed
79.2% of the patients having been involved in a road
accident compared to 47.7% in the USA and 36% in the
UK (Figure 3).
Studies comparing the causes of the accidents in Saudi
Arabia and USA4 showed an estimated 80% of accidents
occurred because of the human factor. Safety of the road
itself or the vehicle's condition contributed to only 20% of
the accidents. The study also showed:
1. Accidents in Saudi Arabia due to excess speed are 3.5
times more common than in the USA.
Figure 3 Percentage of all accidents resulting in Spinal Cord
Injuries (by cause of injury) for Saudi Arabia compared with the
United Kingdom and United States of America.
Public Health
Medical effects
The total number of beds in 175 Ministry of Health
hospitals is 26 737. At any time one third of these beds
(9000 beds) are occupied by road traf®c accident injury
casualties.6 This is in addition to the resources required at
the scene of the accident and prehospital care of the
victims. Many of these patients have residual disabilities
which requires long-term care to be provided in the
community. These medical resources are used at the
expense of patients with other illnesses. Statistics from
Ministry of Health during 1993 and 19957,8 showed the
following as the leading causes of death in their hospitals.
1. Road traf®c accidents.
2. Tumours.
3. Cardiac diseases.7,8
Over 22% of the cases transported by the Red Crescent
Society ambulances during the year 1994 (1415H) were
from road accidents. A study from an Eastern Province
hospital9 showed that 46% of the total injuries received
were due to road accidents and 80% of these patients were
below 40 y of age, 69% of those injured were Saudis, and
20% of the victims were children below the age of 12. The
male to female ratio was 9 : 1. None of the victims were
wearing seat belts at the time of the accident and 49% had
head and facial injuries. Half were discharged from hospital
before 10 days, 25% stayed more than 30 days, and 33%
of long-stay patients were discharged with a disability
resulting in a major neurological de®cit.
Head and facial injury were the main effects of road
traf®c accidents in Riyadh,10 accounting for 30% of injuries
and causing 26% of the deaths. Seat belts could have
substantially reduced the number of fatalities and injuries.
73.6% of all cases of hemiplegia, paraplegia or tetraplegia
in Saudi Arabia are due to road traf®c accidents.11 Of
deaths in 1982 registered in accident and emergency
departments in the Riyadh Medical Centre 70.2% were
caused by road accidents.
Minor accidents in Saudi Arabia at 82.1% are less than
that in USA (91.6%) but this is balanced by major accidents
causing injuries and deaths in Saudi Arabia being more
than double (17.4%) than those in the USA (8.313%).4 The
number of accidents resulting in injuries in Saudi Arabia is
Causes=effects RTA in Saudia Arabia
S Ansari et al
twice that in USA but the number of fatalities is more than
eight times the USA ®gure. Therefore the severity of road
traf®c accidents in Saudi Arabia is much greater than those
in USA, and needs special attention due to the human and
®nancial resources lost in treating these patients.
The ratio of accidents to injuries in Saudi Arabia is 8 : 6
compared to the international estimate of 8 : 1. In the USA,
the ratio of accidents to deaths was 283 : 1 in 1993; the ratio
for Saudi Arabia in 1995 was 32 : 1.4,12
Recommendations
The size of the problem of traf®c accidents and the size of
the human and economic resources lost are enormous. It is
necessary to implement a national strategy to face this
problem. The human factor (the driver) has a major role.
This problem can be overcome by:
1. Control of the poor driving such as violation of traf®c
rules, for example, driving at excess speed, ignoring
crossing signals, unsafe overtaking and unsafe U turns
(turning the vehicle through 180 ). This should reduce
traf®c accidents by more than 50%. Firm punishment for
those who violate traf®c rules needs to be implemented.
2. The compulsory use of safety seat belts for the driver
and the front passengers should be implemented.
3. Improving the method of collecting traf®c accident data
and improving ways of processing these data in order to
get the maximum bene®t from it. In the era of the
Internet, the old ways of manual ®ling and recording of
these data should be made obsolete. Processed data
could be linked to advanced systems of data analysis to
produce regular reports to improve traf®c safety.
39
References
1 Ministry of Interior. Traf®c statistics: Statistical publications
from 1391H ± 1417H. (1971 ± 1997) Ministry of Interior,
General Traf®c Department: Riyadh.
2 WHO. World Health Statistics. World Health Organisation:
Geneva, 1996.
3 Al Ghamdi A. Road traf®c accidents in Saudi Arabia: Causes,
Effects and Solutions 1418H. General Traf®c Department:
Saudi Arabia, 1998.
4 National Safety Council. Accident facts, 2nd edn. National
Safety Council: USA, 1994.
5 Saudi Arabia Monetary. The 32nd annual report 1417H. The
economical and statistical research Of®ce: Saudi Arabia, 1997.
6 Al Sheikh M. Analysis of traf®c accident and facilities in
Riyadh: Epidemiological study. College of Engineering, King
Saud University: Riyadh, 1996.
7 Ministry of Health. Annual Health Report. Ministry of Health:
Riyadh, 1995.
8 Ministry of Health. Deaths reports for 1995. Ministry of
Health: Riyadh, 1995.
9 Al Habdan I. Road traf®c accident admission to King Fahad
University Hospital in Al Khobar, Records of international
conferences about road traf®c accidents. 1412H. Security
Force Hospital: Riyadh, 1992.
10 Isam S, Al Ghamdi A. Analysis of injuries resulting from road
traf®c accidents in Riyadh district. King Saud MagazineEngineering Science 1416H Ref. 2; Issue 8, 1996, pp. 235 ± 250.
11 Abdul J, Saif AL, Zacharial S, Nabil W. Study in research
about causes of the increase in the rate of road traf®c
accidents, injuries in Mecca and Eastern Province and
measures to avoid it; 1411 H. General Of®ce for scholarship
programmes, King Abdulaziz City for Sciences and Technology: Riyadh, 1991.
12 Mohamed S et al. Improving the emergency medical services
in Saudi Arabia; King Abdulaziz. 1414H Book No. 61, City
for Sciences and Technology: Riyadh, 1994.
Public Health
Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences (JETEMS) 3(6): 907-914
© Scholarlink Research Institute Journals, 2012 (ISSN: 2141-7024
jetems.scholarlinkresearch.org
Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences (JETEMS) 3(6):907-914 (ISSN:2141-7024)
Increased Motorization and Road Traffic Accidents in Oman
M. Mazharul Islam and Ahmed Y. S. Al Hadhrami
Department of Mathematics and Statistics,
College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University,
P.O. Box 36, PC 123, Al Khoud, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.
Corresponding Author: M. Mazharul Islam
___________________________________________________________________________
Abstract
With the rapid economic growth, modernization and infrastructure development over the last four decades, there
has been massive increase in automobile usages and car ownership in the Sultanate of Oman, and road traffic
accident (RTA) emerged as a serious public health problem. There is a dearth of literature on motorization
problem in Oman owing to paucity and limited access to data in the past. This is an exploratory study,
presenting a profile of recent growth trends of motorization and the pattern of related road traffic accidents in
Oman. The study is likely to establish the baseline facts about the transportation system and RTA problems in
Oman. Data for the study come from Royal Oman Police (ROP) record and World Health Organization (WHO)
report for international comparison. On the average there are 230 vehicles per 1,000 population in Oman, which
is higher than many middle income countries. Motorization level shows increasing trends in Oman, and between
2000 and 2009, it has increased by 26%. Private car and shared taxi services are the major modes of personal
transport in Oman. In 2009, there were 2.67 accidents per 1,000 population or 9.59 accidents per 1,000
registered vehicles in Oman. RTA shows declining trends during the study period. About 70% of the accidents
are due to collision: 48% with other vehicles and 22% with fixed objects. Young drivers over represents
accident cases in Oman, as 70% of the RTAs happened to drivers aged 17-36 years. Excessive speeding is the
main cause of road traffic accident (50%), followed by negligence or careless driving (29%). About 98% of the
RTAs are related to human factors. Effective road transportation planning, and traffic safety programme,
particularly speed monitoring system, need to be strengthened. The findings of the study may have important
policy implications for transport and road safety planning in Oman.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Keywords: road traffic accidents (RTA), motorization, road crashes, Oman.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
INTRODUCTION
Ismaily and Probert 1998), which increased to more
The Sultanate of Oman is an oil rich Arabian Gulf
than 25,000 kilometers in 2009 (MoNE, 2010). The
country. The discovery of oil and gas and
result has been a large increase in the number of
subsequently the booms in oil prices since the middle
automobiles usage and car ownership in Oman.
of the 20th century has changed the economy and life
Consequently, there has been a massive increase in
style of the people of Arabian Gulf countries
road traffic accident (RTA) with casualties and
including Oman, as the gross domestic product
fatalities creating a serious public health problem.
(GDP) and the per capita income grew rapidly in
RTA not only bring immeasurable amount of human
these countries (Bener et al., 1994; El-Sadig et.al.,
sufferings, but also incur huge economic and social
2002). The country is considered as a middle income
costs in Oman.
country with per capita income $13,343 (MoNE,
2010). Prior to the commercial exploitation of oil in
According to official reports of the Ministry of
late 1960s, the economy of Oman consisted of
Health (MoH) in Oman, RTA problem is the number
subsistence agriculture and fishing. Social and
one cause of inpatient deaths and the leading cause of
economic infrastructure was almost non-existent. By
serious injury, disability and premature death among
late 1980s, Oman has been transformed into a
adults (MoH, 2009). The World Health Organization
modern state with all modern facilities and
(WHO) has ranked Oman at fourth place in the
infrastructures. The standard of living improved
Arabian Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states and
enormously since the mid-1980s. In Oman,
57th worldwide as far as the occurrence of traffic
urbanization occurred in a rapid phase, changing the
accidents and resulting injuries and deaths are
spatial distribution of the population with intensive
concerned (WHO, 2009). Hence, the problem
migration from rural to urban areas and from interior
constitutes a major concern for Public Health and a
to more developed areas. Road construction
sizeable burden to Oman’s health care resources.
programmes have increased in parallel with other
development programmes in Oman. For example, in
In most developed countries, the problem of RTAs
1960s Oman had only 10 kilometer paved road (Alhas attracted increasing research and safety
907
Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences (JETEMS) 3(6):907-914 (ISSN:2141-7024)
interventions resulting in a reduction of the size of
the problem in many of these countries (Lawrence et
al., 1992; Elvik,, 1995; Wayatt et al., 1996;
DiGuiseppi et al., 1997; Vägverket, 2006). However,
despite the fact that Oman has a higher rate of RTA,
yet very little has been done to establish the baseline
facts about the problem. There is a dearth of literature
about motorization, and road traffic accident and its
causality in Oman. To our knowledge, no
comprehensive work has been undertaken on level
trends and determinants of road traffic accident and
its causality in Oman owing to paucity of data in the
past. However, the routine data collected by the
Royal Oman Police (ROP) in recent time allows us to
fill this gap and improve our understanding of the
RTA and its causality in Oman. Thus, the objective
of this paper is to provide an overview of the growth
of motor vehicle and analyze the pattern of road
traffic accident in Oman, using the routinely collected
time series data by ROP during the period 20002009. The study is likely to establish the baseline
facts about the RTA problems in Oman. The findings
of the study may have important policy implications
for transport and road safety planning in Oman and
elsewhere with similar situation.
cases that results in minor damage, injury or causality
and overlook minor self accidents or the accidents
cases that are settled by the parties mutually at the
scene. RTAs are defined to include all traffic related
accidents that result in injury or death to road users.
RTA injuries are defined to include all traffic related
non-fatal injuries, while RTA fatalities are defined to
include all traffic-related deaths that occur within 30
days from the accident. Population denominator data
were obtained from the published population census
reports and the inter census population estimates
were obtained based on the enumerated population of
1993, 2003 and 2010 population census in Oman.
The data for global comparison were obtained from
the WHO Reports (2009).
RESULTS
Levels and Trends of Automobiles Usage in Oman
Table 1 shows the growth of population and the
growth of automobiles in Oman during the 10-year
study period 2000-2009. It can be seen that there has
been massive increase in the number of automobiles
compared to population increase during the period
2000 to 2009. Between 2000 and 2009, the
population of Oman increased by 21.6%, with the
mean annual increase by about 2.0%. On the other
hand, the automobile fleet in the country increased by
52.4%, with a mean annual increase by 4.3% between
2000 and 2009. At the same period, the new
registration of automobile increased by 161%, with a
mean annual increase by 10%. The most remarkable
increase in new registration of automobiles occurred
during 2006-2008 period. During this period, the
number of new registration jumped to five digit
number. For example, the number of vehicles in 2006
was 548,908, and 80,762 vehicles were added during
2007, taking the total at the end of the year to
629,670. After 2008, new registration shows gradual
decrease. On average, more than 85,000 new vehicles
were registered annually in Oman between the years
2000 and 2009 (Table 1).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study is based on data obtained from the Royal
Oman Police (ROP). The Directorate General of
Traffic (DGT) of ROP is the sole authority to record,
analyze and publish all data related to traffic
accidents in Oman. Reporting of RTAs related data
by ROP is thought to be of high coverage, because of
enforcement of a law that car insurance companies,
garages or repair establishments could not accept a
vehicle involved in an accident for insurance claim
and repair if a police report is not produced. Similar
traffic law exist in other Arabian Gulf countries (ElSadig et al., 2002; Ziyad and Akhtar, 2011).
Nevertheless, the true number of RTA and related
fatality and injury are likely to be higher in Oman
than it is reported by ROP, as it omit the accident
Table 1 Growth of population and vehicle in Oman: 2000-2009
Year
Population
in ‘000
No.
of
registered
vehicle
No. of new
registered
vehicle
Annual
growth rate in registered
vehicle (%)
Annual
growth rate in new
registered vehicle (%)
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
% change during 2000-2009
Average for the period 2000-2009
2233
2268
2304
2341
2399
2459
2521
2584
2648
2714
21.55
2447
495914
520926
560302
444500
468412
500385
548908
629670
720316
755937
52.43
564527
48740
42978
39376
42561
57130
73421
104891
136516
177441
127001
160.57
85006
5.04
7.56
-20.67
5.38
6.83
9.70
14.71
14.40
4.95
-11.82
-8.38
8.09
34.23
28.52
42.86
30.15
29.98
-28.43
4.3
10.0
Motorization level, as measured by the number of
vehicle per 1000 population, shows that on average
there are 230 vehicles per 1000 population in Oman.
No. of vehicle per
1000 population
222
230
243
190
195
203
218
244
272
279
25.7
229.5
The 2010 population census in Oman recorded
551,058 households in Oman. Thus, there is
approximately 1.3 vehicles per household in Oman.
908
Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences (JETEMS) 3(6):907-914 (ISSN:2141-7024)
Over all, motorization shows increasing trends in
Oman. Between 2000 and 2009, motorization level
increased by 25.7%.
of number of private cars and the number of
households indicates that there is almost one private
car
per
household
in
Oman
(0.96:1).
80
Figure 1 presents a comparative picture of the level
of motorization (number of vehicle per 1000
population) in some selected high and middle income
countries including Oman in 2007. The information
were obtained from the 2009 WHO’s global status
report on road safety (WHO, 2009). It appears that
Finland has the highest level of motorization (882
vehicle per 1000 population) closely followed by the
USA (822 vehicle per 1000 population). Oman has a
motorization level (244 vehicles per 1000 population)
higher than many middle income countries, but
lowers than the other Arab Gulf countries. For
example, in 2007 there were 299, 401, 479 and 509
vehicles per 1000 population, respectively, in Saudi
Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain (Figure 1).
Finlan
d
USA
Percent
50
40
30
20.72
20
10
3.71
1.81
0.42
1.52
1.25
0.40
0
at
iv
Pr
e
Ta
xi
om
C
al
ci
er
m
o
G
rn
ve
en
m
t
riv
D
g
in
o
ho
sc
l
o
ot
M
i
rb
ke
R
t
en
al
th
O
s
er
Figure 2: Percentage distribution of registered
vehicles by types of registration, 2009
882
721
714
633
610
UK
565
Bahra
in
509
it
479
UAE
i Arab
ia
401
299
Libya
Oman
296
244
Iran
Turke
y
Egyp
t
239
178
57
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
Figure 1: Level of motorization (number of vehicle
per 1000 population) in some selected high and
middle income countries including Oman in 2007
With the absence of a railway network or water-ways
in Oman, roads remain the primary means for
transporting goods and people within the country.
There is no public or private bus service within the
city or suburban area. However, there are limited
intercity bus services, run by a single agency called
“Oman National Transport Company” (ONTC).
Shared private taxi services are also available within
the city and town areas. Thus, private car and Taxi
service are the major modes of personal transport in
Oman. As a result, the most of the registered vehicle
in Oman are private car which numbers have
increased tremendously in recent time. Figure 2
shows the percentage distribution of registered
vehicles by types of registration in 2009. The data
indicate that private car represents the major share of
the registered vehicles, as 70% of the registered
vehicles are private cars, followed by commercially
used vehicles (21%), Taxi (4%), government use
(2%), rental (1.3%) and others (each 1.7%). The ratio
Figure 3 shows the trends in the number of registered
vehicles by types of licence for the 10-year period
starting from 2000 to 2009. During this period the
number of registered vehicles increased, on the
average, by 4.3% per annum. This increase is mainly
due to increase in private cars and commercially used
cars. Private cars are increasing annually, on the
average, by 7%, while commercially used cars are
increasing by 2.7% per annum. On the other hand, the
number of Taxi, government own vehicles and other
types of vehicles remains almost same over the
period. The possession of private cars shows steady
increase over the period. The growth rate was highest
during 2007-2008 (15%). The rate of possession of
private car per 1000 population increased from 126 in
2000 to 195 in 2009. Globally, Oman’s rank is 52 in
terms of car possession per 1000 population, with
highest in USA (765 cars 1000 population) (WHO,
2009).
800000
Private
Taxi
Others
Total
700000
Commercial
Government
Exported
600000
Number of vehicles
Saud
60
822
Qatar
Japan
Malay
sia
Cana
da
Kuwa
70.16
70
500000
400000
300000
200000
100000
0
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Year
Figure 3 Trends in the number of registered vehicles
by types of licence, 2000-2009
909
2008
2009
Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences (JETEMS) 3(6):907-914 (ISSN:2141-7024)
Levels and Trends in Road Traffic Accidents
(RTAs) in Oman
According to the 2000 National Health Survey in
Oman (Al Riyami et al., 2000), conducted by the
Ministry of Health, road traffic accident (RTA) is the
number one cause of accident and injury in Oman
accounting for 61 % of the total accident (Table 2).
Other important causes of accident are accidental fall
(22 %), burns (4.8%), bullet accident (1.8%) and food
poisoning (1.2%). Males are 1.5 times more likely to
experience RTA than female, while the rate of
accidental fall, burns, and food poisoning are higher
among females.
was 54% for per 1000 population and 63.5% for per
1000 vehicles. The corresponding figures for average
annual decrease being 7.5% and 9.6%, respectively.
This fall in accident has occurred despite the fact that
the number of vehicles on the roads and new driving
licenses as well as the population increased over the
period. This may be a consequence of the traffic
safety efforts of ROP by imposing stringent
conditions for issuing license and road safety
information, education and communication (IEC)
programmes through mass media.
Types of RTAs in Oman
Table 4 shows the distribution of RTA in Oman in
2009 by the types and severity. The types of RTA
were categorized as collusion with other vehicles,
collusion with fixed objects, overturn and run over
pedestrians. It can be seen that about 70% of the
accidents are due to collision: 48% with other
vehicles and 22% with fixed objects. Sixteen percent
of the accidents were due to overturn and 14% were
due to run over the pedestrians. The distribution of
RTA by the type of severity indicate that nearly twothird (64%) of the RTA caused injury, while 10.5%
caused fatality and the rest 26% were with minor or
no causality (Table 4).
Cause of accident/injury
Road traffic accident (RTA)
Accidental fall
Burns
Food poisoning
Sharp and mechanical tools
Fire bullets accident
Electrical shocks
Swallowing chemical/drug
Other
Total
Male
68.1
16.8
3.4
0.8
0.8
2.5
0.8
0.8
5.9
100.0
Female
42.6
36.2
8.5
2.1
2.1
8.5
100.0
Total
60.8
22.3
4.8
1.2
1.2
1.8
0.6
0.6
6.6
100.0
Source: Oman National Health Survey, 2000:
Volume 1, p136, Al-Riyami et al., (2000)
7
Data in Table 3 shows the levels and trends of RTA
in Oman during the first decade of the new
millennium (2000-2009), according to the ROP data
source. In absolute term there were 7,253 traffic
accidents in 2009 against 2.7 million population and
755, 937 registered vehicles, indicating a rate of 2.67
accident per 1000 population or 9.59 accident per
1000 registered vehicles.
R TA per 1000 population
6
Table 3: Level of RTA per 1000 population and
vehicles, 2000-2009
Year
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
%
change
during 20002009
Average
growth
per
annum
Number
of RTA
13040
13101
9107
10197
9460
9247
9869
8816
7982
7253
RTA per 1000
population
5.84
5.78
3.95
4.36
3.94
3.76
3.92
3.41
3.01
2.67
RTA per 1000
vehicles
26.29
25.15
16.25
22.94
20.20
18.48
17.98
14.00
11.08
9.59
-54.28
-63.51
-7.52%
-9.59%
30
RTA per 1000 population
RTA per 1000 Vehicles
25
5
20
4
15
3
10
2
5
1
0
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Year
Figure 4: Trends in rate of RTA per 1000 population
and per 1000 registered vehicles in Oman, 2000-2009
Table 4: Percent
characteristics, 2009
distribution
Characteristics
Severity
Fatal Accident
Injury Accident
Minor or no causality
Types
Collision with vehicle
Collision with fixed objects
Overturn
Run over pedestrians
Total
-44.38
-5.7%
As may be seen from Table 3 and Figure 4 that there
is an appreciable decline in RTA rates in Oman. The
number of accidents fell down from 13,040 cases in
2000 to 7,253 in 2009, a drop of 44% over the period
2000-2009 or a decline of 5.7% per annum. During
the same period, the overall decrease in accident rate
910
of
RTA
Number
Percent
760
4618
1875
10.48
63.67
25.85
3485
1560
1190
1018
7253
48.05
21.51
16.41
14.04
100.00
by
RTA per 1000 vehicles
Table 2: Percent distribution of accident and injury
by causes according to sex, Oman 2000
Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences (JETEMS) 3(6):907-914 (ISSN:2141-7024)
RTA by Age of Drivers
Age of the drivers involved with RTA shows
negative association with the RTA in Oman.
Distribution of the accident by drivers age indicate
that young drivers are more likely to be involved with
accidents than their older counterparts, as 70% of the
accident happened to drivers aged 17-36 years. The
proportion of accident declined with the age of the
drivers (Table 5).
traffic accident in Oman, since as many as half (50%)
of the accident occurred due to high speeding.
Negligence or careless driving is the second most
important causes of accident, accounting 29% of the
accidents, followed by lack of control of the driver
(9%), unsafe distance (3.8%) and overtaking (3%).
Although, drink driving is one of the major causes of
road traffic accident in many countries, particularly in
the West, it shows a very little effect (1.4%) on road
traffic accidents in Oman. However, the result is not
surprising for Oman, because under the Islamic law,
the sale and consumption of alcohol is prohibited in
the Sultanate, and the penalty for this offense is also
very severe.
Table 5: Percent Distribution of drivers involved with
accidents by age, Oman 2009
Driver age*
17-26
27-36
37-46
47-56
57+
Total
Number of RTA
2543
1942
1007
577
300
6369
Percent
39.93
30.49
15.81
9.06
4.71
100.00
All the aforementioned causes are human factors. It is
seen that only 2% cases road accident happened other
than human related causes, such as, vehicle defects,
road defects or weather condition, and 98% cases
road accident happened due to human related causes.
The result is consistent with the recent studies that
documented that human actions are sole or a
contributory factor for 90-95% of traffic crashes
(Lewin, 1982; Rumar, 1985; Evans, 1991; Elander et
al., 1993).
*Age of drivers was missing for 884 RTA cases, the
distribution presents the remaining 6369 cases
Timing of occurrence of RTA
Table 6 presents the distribution of RTA by time of
occurrence. Overall, accident happened more during
day time (59%) than night time (41%) and most RTA
incident occurred between 9.00 hours and 20.00
hours time. About two-third (66.5%) of the road
accidents in Oman in 2009 happened during 9.00 20.00 hours time. Thus, 9.00-16.00 hours of the day
time and 17.00-20.00 hours of the night time are the
pick hours of occurrence of RTA incidence in Oman,
while traffic accidents are less likely to occur during
1-8 hours of the night time in Oman. Among the
weekdays, Thursday shows the highest frequency of
occurrence of road traffic accident, while Friday and
Sunday the least.
Table 7: Distribution of accident by causes of
accident, Oman (200-2009)
Table 6 Percent distribution of RTA by timing of
occurrence, Oman 2009
Timing of RTA
Time of the day
Day time
Night time
Time (hours) of occurrence
1-4
5-8
9-12
13-16
17-20
21-24
Week days
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Total
Number
Percent
4278
2975
58.98
41.02
629
742
1641
1551
1629
1061
8.67
10.23
22.63
21.38
22.45
14.63
1040
977
1020
1048
1024
1158
986
7253
14.34
13.47
14.06
14.45
14.12
15.97
13.59
100.00
Causes of accident*
Speeding
Negligence
Fatigue
Drink-Driving
Overtaking
Weather Condition
Sudden Stop
Unsafe Distance
Lack of Control
Vehicle Defects
Road Defects
2005
31.72
57.90
0.12
0.85
1.71
0.14
0.04
4.48
1.94
0.98
0.12
2006
53.06
36.97
0.03
0.77
1.67
0.25
0.11
3.55
2.66
0.81
0.11
2007
60.62
23.80
0.15
1.05
2.20
0.58
0.41
3.05
6.51
1.45
0.18
2008
59.31
11.55
0.16
2.09
5.25
0.45
0.88
4.74
13.33
1.93
0.31
2009
51.62
8.48
0.25
2.37
5.16
1.79
1.17
3.31
22.60
2.45
0.80
Total
50.94
29.28
0.13
1.36
3.03
0.59
0.48
3.82
8.62
1.46
0.28
Total
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
* Data were available for 2005-2009 from ROP
source
Table 7 also presents the trends in different causes of
road traffic accidents over the period 2005 to 2009. It
is to be noted that despite law against consumption of
alcohol, the proportion of road accident attributed to
drink-driving shows increasing trends in Oman over
the period. For example, the proportion of traffic
accident related to drink-driving increased from less
than one percent in 2005 to more than 2% in 2009. It
is encouraging to note that excess speed and
negligence, the two main causes of road traffic
accident in Oman, show declining trends over the
period 2000-2005. However, some other important
causes of road traffic accident, such as, lack of
driver’s control and over taking show increasing
trends over the years. Among the non-human factors,
the proportion of road traffic accident shows
increasing trends for vehicle defects.
Causes of Road Traffic Accidents
Table 7 shows the distribution of RTAs by causes of
accidents during 2000-2009 in Oman. It may be seen
that speeding appeared as the main cause of road
911
Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences (JETEMS) 3(6):907-914 (ISSN:2141-7024)
DISCUSSION
The findings of this study indicate that the growth of
automobile is faster than the growth of the Omani
population. It has been observed that during the 10
year study period from 2000 to 2009, the population
of Oman increased by about 2.0% per annum, while
the automobile fleet in the country increased by 4.3%
per annum. At the same period, the new registration
of automobile increased by 10% per annum.
particular region (Al Ismaily and Probert, 1998). As a
result, there is no much demand from general public
for introduction of bus services, and the government
in Oman will also be reluctant to subsidies public
transport, especially if a significant proportion of the
passengers using the service are not Omani citizens.
It is encouraging to note that the rate of RTA shows
an appreciable decline in Oman during the 10-year
study period between 2000 and 2009, despite the fact
that the number of vehicles on the roads and new
driving licenses as well as the population increased
over the study period. The number of accidents fell
down from 13,040 cases in 2000 to 7,253 in 2009, a
drop of 44% over the period 2000-2009 or a decline
of 5.7% per annum.
On the average there are 230 vehicles per 1,000
population in Oman, which is higher than many
middle income countries, but lower than the other
Arab Gulf countries. The level of automobiles usage
shows increasing trends in Oman, and between 2000
and 2009, it has increased by 26%. In the absence of
railway network, water-ways or bus services within
the city or suburban area, private car and shared
private taxi services are the major modes of personal
transport in Oman. The data indicate that private car
represents 70% of the registered vehicles in Oman.
The rate of possession of private car per 1,000
population increased from 126 in 2000 to 195 in
2009. While unavailability of public or private bus
communication system causes inconvenience to
general public, the excessive dependence on private
cars leads to heavy traffic, a large number of
accidents, degradation of urban environment and high
individual expenditure on transport (Belwal and
Belwal 2010). In recent time, all the big cities,
particularly Muscat, the capital city of the country,
increasingly experiencing heavy traffic congestion
due to excessive dependence on private car and
shared taxi services in the absence of bus or rail
communication. Other Gulf countries are also facing
similar problems due to the rapid growth in private
vehicle ownership, and have introduced public bus
transportation in major urban cities in a limited scale.
As regard the type of accident, about 70% of the
accidents are due to collision: 48% with other
vehicles and 22% with fixed objects. Sixteen percent
of the accidents were due to overturn and 14% were
due to run-over the pedestrians. The distribution of
RTA by the type of severity indicate that nearly twothird (64%) of the RTA caused injury, while 10%
caused fatality and the rest 26% were with minor or
no causality.
Young drivers over represents accident cases in
Oman, as 70% of the road traffic accidents happened
to drivers aged 17-36 years. The overrepresentation
of youths in crashes involving casualties is a
significant public health issue in most countries
(Williams, 2003; Ivers et al., 2009). It is, therefore,
crucial to understand the young novice drivers' risky
driving behaviors and risk perceptions, and take
appropriate action to improve the situation in Oman.
Overall, accident happened more during day time
(59%) than night time (41%) and most RTA incident
occurred between 9.00 and16.00 hours of the day
time and 17.00 and 20.00 hours of the night time.
Among the weekdays, Thursday, which is weekly
holiday in Oman, shows the highest frequency of
occurrence of road traffic accident.
In Oman, public bus service or bus service in general
is not the preferred choice of transport for the
citizens. Buses are often considered to be a low
status, foreign mode of transport for the
underprivileged (Al Ismaily and Probert, 1998). Even
among those with no private cars, buses are
considered to be inappropriate to the needs of
ordinary citizens and inconvenient. On the behavioral
side, people are basically addicted to using their
private cars, while cars for some are a distinct social
status symbol. Women folk are less willing to adopt
public transport, as they feel more comfortable and
secure in their personal cars (Belwal and Belwal,
2010). Besides, because of very hot temperature
which ranges from 40-50 degrees Celsius for almost
six months, starting from March to August, it is
difficult for the people to wait for buses on the road.
Another factor is the low density of the population
and the population is scattered unevenly in different
regions, which imposes a serious challenge to
transport planners in offering specific solution for a
The study results indicate that excessive speeding is
the main cause of road traffic accident in Oman.
About half (50%) of the total road traffic accidents in
Oman is due to speeding followed by negligence or
careless driving (29%). Among other causes of RTA,
lack of control of the drivers (9%), driving with
unsafe distance (3.8%) and overtaking (3%) are
important. Drink-driving contribute very little (1.4%)
to traffic accident in Oman, due to Islamic law
restricting the sale and consumption of alcohol in
Oman. The study findings indicate that about 98% of
the RTAs are related to human factors which are
preventable. The result is consistent with other
research findings. According to the 2009 ‘global
status report on road safety’, 62% of the countries
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Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences (JETEMS) 3(6):907-914 (ISSN:2141-7024)
have speed limit on urban roads less than or equal to
50 km/h, 29% of the countries have speed limit 51-70
km./h, 6% have 71-90 km/h and only 2% countries
(mostly the Arabian Gulf countries) have speed limit
more than 90 km/h (WHO, 2009). It also shows that
Oman is the single country with maximum speed
limit of 120 km/h in urban roads. Among other Arab
gulf countries, the maximum speed limit in urban
roads are 50 km/h in Bahrain, 60 km/h in UAE, 80
km/h in Saudi Arabia, 100 km/h in Qatar, and 100
km/h in Iraq.
Research on effective speed
management indicates that the speed limits on urban
road should not exceed 50 km/h (Transport Research
Centre (Transport Research Centre, 2006). Many
countries with good safety records have adopted this
recommendation, authorizing local level authority to
reduce the national level speed limit (WHO, 2009). A
5% increase in average speed leads to an
approximately 10% increase in crashes that causes
injuries, and a 20% increase in fatal crashes. Apart
from reducing road traffic injuries and deaths,
lowering the average traffic speed can have other
positive effects on Heath (Transport Research Centre,
2006).
building about the risk of traffic accident among the
road users, and lack of strict driving license policy
could be the possible reasons for increasing RTA and
RTA-related fatalities in Oman. Information,
education and communication (IEC) campaign to
raise awareness about the seriousness of road traffic
crashes among the road users, along traffic week, and
effective implementation of road safety measures
may help reduce the tragedy of RTA in Oman.
Further research is needed to identify the root causes
of increasing RTA and RTA-related fatalities in
Oman. The ROP data collection system also need to
be evaluated and modernized.
Oman needs a sustainable transport policy to reduce
the traffic volume and its sever consequences. But the
prospect of introduction bus services, public or
private, in Oman is very slim in the near future,
because of the perception and negative attitude of the
common people towards bus services, as well as
cultural and environmental factors.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank the Royal Oman
Police (ROP), especially the Directorate General of
Traffic (DGT), for providing data and supporting
documents to conduct this study.
Since the late 1990s Oman has developed an
excellent roadway network, due to the sizeable
expenditure on this sector. Most of the roads are now
dual carriage roads, lighted up properly at night, well
equipped with traffic signs and signals. Moreover,
many safety interventions were made to curb RTAs
including the enforcement of speed limits, by speed
radar systems, provision of median barriers, steel
guard rails along road edges, traffic safety awareness
campaigns, etc. All these improvement may have
impact on declining trends in the rate of RTA in
Oman. The declining trends in the rates of RTA may
also partly be related to the changing denominators of
the rate, as both the population and automobile
usages are increasing over the study period.
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Tillämpningsrapport. Variable speed limit at
intersections. Application report. In Swedish, English
summary. Publ 2006:141
Wayatt, J.P., Beard, D., Gray, A., Busuttil, A., and
Robertson, C.E., 1996. Rates, causes and prevention
of deaths from injuries in South-East Scotland. Injury
27, 337–340.
Williams, A.F., 2003. Teenage drivers: patterns of
risk. Journal of Safety Research, 34, 5-15.
World Health Organization (WHO), 2009. Global
status report on road safety: Time for action,
Department of Violence & Injury Prevention &
Disability. WHO, Geneva, Switzerland. www.
who.int/violence_injury_prevention_safety/2009
914
Strategy to improve road safety in
developing countries
Abdulbari Bener, PHD, MFPHM, Fikri M. Abu-Zidan, FRCS, DipApplStats, Abdel K. Bensiali, MSc, PhD,
Ahmad A. Al-Mulla, MD, DrPH, Khair S. Jadaan, ITMA, MASCE.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To review the road safety situation in developed
and developing countries compared with the Arabian Gulf
countries and suggest a strategy to improve it. The role of road
engineers in reducing accidents is highlighted.
Methods: This is a retrospective study of road traffic
accidents (RTAS) for a period from 1988 to 1998 in Arabian
Gulf Countries. The data was taken from the Directorate of
Traffic and Ministry of Health records in Gulf Countries.
Additional data was obtained from other sources including the
World Health Organizations Statistics Annuals, International
Road Federation, Transport Road Research Laboratory and
accident facts publications. Overall fatality and injury rates of
RTAs were calculated.
Results: The lack of reliable data is a serious problem in
most of the developing countries. It is quite reasonable to
assume that the incidence of accidents is much larger than
oad traffic accidents (RTAs) are recognized as a
R
growing public health problem in the Arabian Gulf
and other developing countries. The discovery of oil
1-4
around the middle of the last century has changed many
aspects of life in the Arabian Gulf Countries. The
increased number of population and vehicles were
accompanied by expanding road construction programs.
Nevertheless, change in the behavior of drivers was
slower.3 The result was a large number of traffic
accidents that have high serious fatality. The magnitude
of the road safety problem varied between different
countries. Recent research has shown that many
developing countries have a serious road accident
actually reported. A comparison of vehicle ownership levels
and safety parameters in both developed and developing
countries is presented to highlight the relative seriousness of
the road safety situation in different countries. The fatality
rates (per population and per vehicles) are selected for
comparison purposes from developed and developing
countries.
Conclusion: Road traffic accidents continue to be a major
cause of mortality and morbidity in the Arabian Gulf
Countries leading to substantial wastage of life and national
resources. Further investigation is essential and will require
close inter-sectoral collaboration between, traffic police,
health, law, and transport authorities. Developing a research
strategy for prevention will reduce casualties and death on the
road.
Saudi Med J 2003; Vol. 24 (6): 603-608
problem and that accident rates are higher than those of
western industrial countries. 5-6 Road traffic accidents are
a significant but preventable, cause of death, disability
and economic loss in developing countries.7-8 Motor
vehicle injuries are the third most important cause of
death in developing countries.9 This affects mainly the
young males who are economically active. It is projected
that RTAs will be the second cause of disabilityadjusted life years in a developing countries.7 In United
Arab Emirates RTAs are the second cause of death for
all age groups.10-11 Despite that, there is a low
appreciation for its health and economical burden.12
World Health Organization13 (WHO) has stressed the
From the Department of Medical Statistics & Epidemiology (Bener), Department of Public Health & Disease Control (Al-Mulla), Hamad Medical Corporation,
Doha, Qatar, Department of General Practice and Remote Health Care Unit (Bener), Aberdeen University, United Kingdom, Department of Surgery (Abu-Zidan),
Faculty of Medicine, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, Red Crescent (Bensiali), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the Department of Civil
Engineering (Jadaan), Faculty of Engineering, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
Received 9th November 2002. Accepted for publication in final form 5th February 2003.
Address correspondence and reprint request to: Prof. Abdulbari Bener, Advisor WHO and Head of Department of Medical Statistics & Epidemiology, Hamad
Medical Corporation, PO Box 3050, Doha, Qatar. Tel. +974 4391404/4391405. Fax. +974 4391284. E-mail: abener@hmc.org.qa or abaribener@hotmail.com
603
Strategy to improve road safety ... Bener et al
importance of adequate data on traffic injuries. Accurate
epidemiological data from many developing countries
are rare or difficult to find.2-14 Data on injury from
developing and Arabian Gulf Countries are primarily
based upon hospital logs2-10 or police records.1,3,10,11,14-17 A
rapid rise in vehicle ownership occurred during the
1960s in Latin America, when accident rates also peaked
and have remained at a high level since then. The annual
increase in vehicle ownership in Asia is 12-18%, yet
road networks and safety measures have not kept pace,
resulting in a dramatic increase in the number and rate of
accidents. In most African countries, vehicle ownership
is limited and traffic is generally less crowded.1
However, the dramatic growth of urban population
caused a rapid rise in urban vehicle ownership and
accidents. This study aims to review the road safety
situation in developed and developing countries,
compares this with the road safety in the Arabian Gulf
Countries and suggests a strategy to improve it. The role
of road engineers in reducing accidents is highlighted.
Methods. Data was obtained from the official
statistical reports on road traffic accidents, injuries and
fatalities and Ministry of Interior's Yearly Statistical
Report and the Annual Reports of the Directorate of
Traffic and Ministry of Health Annual Reports.18 Fatality
is included, according to WHO criteria, if it occurs
within 30 days from the accident. The annual statistical
report contains information on the number of registered
vehicles, number and nature of accidents, causes of road
accidents, number of fatalities and casualties, age and
gender of victims and causal factors. Additional data was
obtained from various sources, including Ministry of
Health, Health Statistics Annual Report for the period
from 1988 and 1998, 19 various edition of the WHO
Statistics Annuals, International Road Federation,
Transport Road Research Laboratory and Accident Facts
publications.
Results. I. Accident rates, trends and costs. Many
parameters have been used to describe the accident
problem. These include the number of fatalities, fatality
rates, 20 (fatality per 10,000 vehicles, per 100,000
persons or per million vehicles-km) and fatality index.
Comparison of vehicle ownership levels and safety
parameters between developed and developing countries
may help to highlight the relative seriousness of the road
safety situation in different countries. The fatality rates
(per population and per vehicles) are selected for
comparison purposes since information on vehicle usage
is not yet available in many developing countries. The
results are shown in Table 1 and in Figure 1. The
changing pattern in vehicle ownership levels and fatality
rates over time was also investigated for selected
developed and developing countries. The percentage
changes in vehicles per person and in fatality rates over
the 10-year-period (1988-1998) were calculated and the
results are given in Table 2. However, such comparisons
should be treated with caution due to its variations
between countries in definition, degree of motorization
604
Saudi Med J 2003; Vol. 24 (6)
www.smj.org.sa
and accuracy of data. In addition misleading conclusions
may be drawn if only one of the fatality rates is
considered.21 Attempts have been made to relate vehicle
ownership and fatality rates per vehicle for both
developed and developing countries resulting in a
number of predictive models. A summary of these
models is shown in Table 3. This approach was
subjected to criticism and different models were
produced which incorporate more factors that are
believed to contribute to traffic accidents. Such model
was developed for rich developing countries.22 An
attempt was made to test the relationship between
fatality rate and other parameters that are believed to
have some impact on fatalities in the United Arab
Emirates.3 The parameters used were as follows: vehicle
per-person; gross national product (GNP) per capita;
population per physician; population per hospital bed;
and percentage of the school age population attending
schools. The reason for choosing parameters is that they
are believed to reflect some social, economic, and health
characteristics of Arabian Gulf Countries with sufficient
variable data. Simple regression analysis was carried out
to quantify separately the dependence of the fatality (per
licensed vehicle) on those parameters. The logarithmic
values of fatality rates per vehicle in Arabian Gulf
Countries were related to the above parameters. The
results of regression analysis obtained showed that the
fatality rates were found: to decrease with increasing
vehicle ownership; to decrease with increasing GNP per
capita; decrease with increasing percentage of the school
age population attending school; increase with
population per physician; and increase with population
per hospital bed.
Discussion. The above results, bearing in mind
data limitations, shed some light on how social and
economic parameters might affect the road safety
situation in a particular country. The results also
suggest that road accidents fatality rates could be
reduced by improving medical services and education.
The estimation of accident costs is difficult and
particularly in developing countries. Nevertheless,
correct costing is needed to accurately determine the
cost effectiveness of traffic management schemes.13,16
Traffic accidents in developing countries are costing an
enormous amount of money,2,23 (an estimated 1-2% of
GNP) much of which must be paid in hard currency,
since vehicles and medicines are usually imported. On
the average, the total costs of road accidents, including
an economic valuation of lost quality of life, were
approximately 2.5% of the GNP.24 Excluding the
valuation of lost quality of life, road accidents cost an
average 1.3% of the GNP. When valuation of lost
quality of life is included, costs ranged from 0.5-5.7% of
GNP. When valuation of lost quality of life is
disregarded, costs ranged from 0.3-2.8% of GNP.25
However the losses caused by traffic accidents are quite
heavy in both developed and developing countries (as
indicated in Table 4) and if they are to be reduced
substantially, a comprehensive strategy for accident
reduction and prevention is required.25
Strategy to improve road safety ... Bener et al
II. Factors contributing to accidents. Most of the
factors affecting accident occurrence and rates may be
grouped and labeled as "economical" factors. The World
Bank26 relates much of the accident problem in
developing countries to a shortage of funds, for both
owners of vehicles and governments.
A study into the factors affecting traffic accidents in
different countries may conveniently divide them into 2
groups: a) Direct factors - which contribute directly to
the occurrence of individual accidents. These include:
road user behavior, driver's ability and attitude, traffic
engineering, roads and environment, and medical
services. b) Indirect factors - that contribute to the total
population and rates of accidents in the country. They
include demographic (population structure and
distribution), and vehicle population and characteristics
(number, type, usage and occupancy). Many studies
have shown that these factors contribute to higher
accident risks or to more serious accidents. In
developing countries the resource constraints, especially
of hard currency may produce the following
consequences. Moreover, road user behavior is reckless.
Studies show that drivers routinely ignore traffic laws22,27
and pedestrians routinely walk in the middle of streets
and cross without checking for traffic. Hobbs28 has
reported that in general, driver's errors, often
accompanied by law violations, are in the chain of
events leading to more than 90% of all highway
accidents. However, the nature of behavior differs
between countries. While alcohol, for example, is found
to be the most common causes of accidents in many
developed countries, it is negligible effect in Islamic
countries where the law prohibits alcohol drinking.1-3
Investigations into some aspects of driver behavior in
some rich developing countries2,3,29,30 indicated that
drivers acquire many dangerous and harmful driving
habits and that driver observations of traffic regulations
is poor. In recent years, many countries have launched
integrated road safety programs which attempt to
incorporate all the diverse elements related to accidents
and casualties31 which is expected to increase the
efficiency of road safety work and generate new
solutions to the accident problem.
III.
Strategies
for
better
road
safety. Comprehensive strategy for accident reduction
and prevention is required to improve road safety in any
country. World Health Organization13 has proposed such
a strategy and produced guidelines that draw a clear
distinction between accident reduction and accident
prevention, with both is being necessary. Theoretically,
reduction of accidents requires: (i) Reducing personal
travel (and consequently road traffic). (ii) Reducing the
risk, severity and consequences of road accidents. These
approaches can be applied in a variety of ways and road
safety improvement measures may be broadly classified
into 2 groups: 1) "Technical" - which are direct measures
intended mainly to improve safety. These include
measures related to land use development, road and road
user, vehicle design, traffic laws and their enforcement,
medical services and insurance premiums. 2)
"Institutional" - which can improve road safety
indirectly and are related to road safety organization,
financing, research and development and staff education
and training. An accident reduction program should
entail the following stages: a) Identification of problem
locations through the analysis of accident data. b)
Diagnosis of the symptoms (namely factors involved in
accident occurrence). c) Selection of the best treatment
and program of work. d) Monitoring of the effects of the
program.
III.1 Strategy for developing countries. The model
derived by Jacobs and Cutting27 using 1980 data from 20
developing countries and that derived by Smeed32 using
1938 data from 20 developed countries (Table 3) suggest
that the situation in developed countries in 1938 is
similar to that in developing countries in 1980. In terms
of vehicle ownership and general approaches to the
safety problem, this may well be the case. However, the
suggestion of similarity is not true in many other aspects
affecting road safety such as roads, user behavior and
law enforcement. Wider social and behavioral
differences between developed and developing countries
must be considered when assessing the potential for road
accident reduction in developing countries.2-4,10 A multidirectional approach should be considered for the overall
reduction of traffic accidents in developing countries. A
traffic safety management system as shown in Figure 2
could be adopted and the activities coordinated and
applied collectively. Based on findings of the World
Bank report,33 this stresses the importance of improving
systems for data collection and analysis; establishment
of official, national coordinating committees and a small
team working full time on road safety; and training
traffic engineers to analyze accidents, conduct limited
safety studies to identify the most important problems,
convince officials to take action and design and evaluate
corrective measures. Finally, the complexity of factors
influencing road safety and the wide variety of available
counter measures call for a systemic approach of road
safety activities. Carlsson and Hedman34 suggested
simplified framework for such an approach as follows:
setting of goals, data collection and analysis,
identification of safety measures, setting of priorities,
and activities related to the selected safety programs
which include design, financing, implementation,
monitoring, and evaluation.
III.2 Strategy for developed countries. Wellplanned and timed strategy should be launched against
RTAs. These accidents cause high mortality and inflict
heavy economical losses. This strategy should be
comprehensive and not incremental. In developed
countries, where there is a better appreciation of the
problem, the remedy requires commitment from both the
officials and the public and should take the form of a
positive strategy from a coordinated group of decision
makers. The study should outline the policy and
strategy, the means and the resources needed to face this
serious problem and set targets to achieve during set
periods of time.35 It produced a policy that called for
road safety management on national and local levels.
www.smj.org.sa Saudi Med J 2003; Vol. 24 (6)
605
Strategy to improve road safety ... Bener et al
Table 1 - Motorization levels and fatality rates for various countries during
the period of 1988-1998.
Countries
Vehs/10,000 Fats/10,000 Fats/10,000
persons
vehicles
persons
Table 2 - Percentage change in vehicle ownership and fatality rates in
selected countries during the period of 1988-1998.
Countries
Vehs/10,000 Fats/10,000 Fats/10,000
persons
vehicles
persons
Developing countries
Brazil
Chile
Ethiopia
Jordan
Korea (South)
Malaysia
Morocco*
Niger
Pakistan
Thailand
Tunisia
1000.7
748.6
8.9
770.9
391.5
1111.0
341.0
50.1
40.4
277.6
573.0
4.22
12.79
292.06
17.73
44.72
21.88
31.08
46.68
121.44
12.98
21.24
0.42
0.96
0.26
1.37
1.75
2.43
1.06
0.23
0.49
0.36
1.22
Developing countries
Brazil
Chile
Ethiopia
Jordan
Korea (South)
Malaysia
Morocco*
Niger
Pakistan
Thailand
Tunisia
48.9*
467.5
43.6†
124.0*
417.8*
83.1*
16.0*
7.3*
86.2*
74.5*
78.8*
5.7†
51.5†
40.6*
63.4†
69.9†
43.8†
37.0†
24.9†
43.2†
64.1†
28.2†
40.2*
18.7†
20.4†
18.1†
55.8*
2.9*
26.9†
19.3†
6.1*
37.4†
28.8*
Arabian Gulf countries
Bahrain
Kuwait
Oman
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
United Arab Emirates
Qatar
2458.9
3014.1
1395.5
4193.2
1892.3
2186.6
6.57
4.84
16.37
6.36
11.29
7.34
1.62
1.46
2.28
2.66
2.10
1.58
Arabian Gulf countries
Bahrain
Kuwait
Oman
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
United Arab Emirates
Qatar
39.7*
-9.5 †
567.3*
192.0*
68.4*
77.2*
60.0†
53.4†
45.2†
65.0†
25.3†
49.5†
44.8†
55.9†
305.1*
3.8
15.4†
9.1†
Eastern European countries
Bulgaria
Hungary
Yugoslavia
1452.1
1756.1
1329.2
8.85
8.45
12.75
1.28
1.48
1.78
Eastern European countries
Bulgaria
Hungary
Yugoslavia
89.4*
113.0*
50.5*
42.3†
58.8†
52.8†
9.3*
12.2†
25.6†
3666.5
2219.2
4698.3
4854.7
4545.5
4078.4
5950.3
3111.7
77403.2
3.71
3.05
3.76
2.68
2.13
1.87
4.03
4.85
2.30
1.36
1.18
1.77
1.30
0.97
0.76
2.40
1.51
1.80
Developed countries (Western)
Denmark
Finland
France†
Germany (W)
Great Britain
Japan*
New Zealand
Spain
United States of America
13.6*
14.5†
29.2*
35.8*
26.3*
45.6*
30.5*
60.3*
10.2*
26.3†
47.2†
44.5†
60.8†
39.8†
32.9†
17.4†
28.7†
23.5†
16.3†
21.3†
28.3†
46.8†
23.9†
2.3†
7.8*
14.2*
15.8†
Developed countries (Western)
Denmark
Finland
France†
Germany (W)
Great Britain
Japan*
New Zealand
Spain
United States of America
Data source: International Road Federation. World Road Statistics.Various
Editions (1988-1998)
*death within 24 hours, †death within 6 days
Vehs - vehicles, Fats - fatalities
Data source: International Road Federation. World Road Statistics.Various
Editions (1988-1998)
*increasing, †decreasing
Vehs - vehicles, Fats - fatalities
Table 3 - A summary of models relating vehicle ownership and fatality
rate.
Year of
data
1938
1980
1978-1980
1980
COUNTRIES
Figure 1 - Road accident fatalities (deaths per 10,000 vehicles) in selected
countries, 1988-1998.
606
Saudi Med J 2003; Vol. 24 (6)
www.smj.org.sa
1982
Type of countries
N of
countries
Model
Developed
Developing
Developing
Developed
Gulf and Middle
Eastern
20
20
35
20
* F/
†F/
†F/
†F/
V = 0.0003 (V/P) -0.66
V = 0.00036 (V/P) -0.65
V = 0.00039 (V/P) -0.64
V = 0.00021 (V/P) -0.72
11
‡F/
V = 0.00052 (V/P) -0.60
*Smeed, 32 †Jacobs and Cutting,27 ‡Jadaan 23
F - fatalities from road accidents, V - number of vehicles, P - population
Strategy to improve road safety ... Bener et al
Table 4
Countries
Year Currency
Cost (USD)
millions
Ref.
no.
Developing countries
Ethiopia
India
Jordan
1981
1983
1985
GBP
IRs
JD
10.6
2,3676
41.4 (62.7)
5
26
24
Table 4 - Indicative cost of traffic accidents in selected countries.
Rich developing countries
Kuwait
1982
Libya
1978
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 1985
KD
USD
SR
115 (396.6)
160
7,366 (1,959)
6
30
2
Figure 2 - Traffic safety management system for developing countries.
Developed countries
Australia
New Zealand
United Kingdom
United States of America
AUD
NZD
GBP
USD
1,591
510
2.182
57,199
26
26
26
26
1978
1983
1981
1980
GBP - Great Britain Pound, IRs - Indian Rupees, JD - Jordanian Dollar, KD Kuwait Dinar, USD - US Dollar, SR - Saudi Riyals,
AUD - Australian Dollar, NZD - New Zealand Dollar
Figure 2
www.smj.org.sa Saudi Med J 2003; Vol. 24 (6)
607
Strategy to improve road safety ... Bener et al
IV. Role of engineers. Road accidents are
considered a "public health" problem, which confronts
society generally. Engineers must, therefore, work
closely with experts in other scientific disciplines such
as educators, health and enforcement agencies to
effectively
tackle
the
problem.
Engineering
improvements to road safety can be conveniently
subdivided into 3 categories:36 improvements to the road
and its environment; improvements to road vehicles; and
improvements aimed at assisting other scientific
disciplines. Road and vehicle engineering measures
have been well proven effective in reducing accidents.
Road safety is more appreciated in developed countries
and their accident rates are generally improving. In
comparison, the problem may appear of little concern in
developing countries and their accident and casualty
rates are higher than developed countries. It is unlikely
that much progress can be made in substantially
reducing accident cost unless a comprehensive strategy
is adopted. A multi-directional approach should be
considered in developing countries and a safety
management system is proposed. Road traffic accidents
continue to be a major cause of mortality and morbidity
in the Gulf Countries leading to substantial wastage of
life and national resources. Further investigation is
essential and will require close intersectorial
collaboration between, traffic police, health, law, and
transport authorities. Developing a research strategy for
prevention will reduce casualties and deaths on the road.
Acknowledgment. We would like to thank Prof. Leonard
Evans (United States of America), Mr. David Lynam (Transport
Research Laboratory, United Kingdom), and Ms. Sarah Groombridge
(Transport Research Laboratory, United Kingdom) for their valuable
information for the preparation of this paper.
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