There was an 18.7 per cent reduction in fatalities in RTAs in 2015. But is it an acceptable level when 618 people died in RTAs (till November 2015)? And again the beginning of 2016 has not been good. Even a single fatality is not easy to accept. Three children died in a Nizwa school bus accident and in another incident on Sunday in Seeb a student was dragged away by a bus because of negligence and a silly mistake by the driver.

Can we continue to allow somebody to continue to make silly mistakes and claim the life of our near and dear ones? It's really alarming for us as parents authorities and transport agencies. We really need to think and relook at those actions that not only take us away from the luck factor and living at the mercy of someone's foolish behaviour on our roads. Can we really afford to say 'bye' to our near and dear ones as if it were a 'final bye' every time?

It is very evident and everybody knows clearly in what conditions our children are travelling to school every day. We find overcrowded buses with children all around us being driven with no respect for traffic rules. Children get no care from sleeping attendants and are often found hanging out from windows or struggling to get a little space to sit. At other times they are enjoying (with no clue) the reckless driving of the driver over bumps sharp curves and turns. Drivers sometimes manoeuvre their buses on the roads as if they were driving sports cars on a racetrack.

The recent incidents indicate clearly that there are no effective controls on transport management. Children can be found standing in the aisle and drivers are many a time found to be busy on social media using high tech gadgets or driving while
enjoying a conversation with his near and dear ones on his phone. Whatever the reason one silly mistake on wheel a distracted driver or perhaps even wrong judgement while on the road can lead to loss of control and an accident. The fact that there exists no safety (seat) belt rule in Oman for passengers sitting behind is yet another element that adds to this deadly mix.

Now is the time to rethink about the road safety measures in the sultanate which was majorly boosted by His Majesty the Sultan's vision and motivational speech. I am just thinking of the situation last week. If all the children had been wearing seat belts then the severity of the injuries would not have been this much. It's time for the authorities to take a decision to make wearing seatbelts compulsory for all occupants in a vehicle. I have personally witnessed many incidents where lives were saved even after terrible accidents because the passengers were wearing seat belts.

The other major action that is required urgently is about the selection and competency of school bus drivers and attendants. This will make our children safe as some silly mistake will not cost the life of others.

Other effective measures such as In Vehicle Monitoring Systems (IVMS) to monitor the behaviour of driver behind the wheel strict monitoring by concerned authorities and school management defensive driving training for drivers while awareness training for attendants on their roles and responsibilities should be implemented. We should also call upon the use of hardware control like speed limiters on school buses and other high-risk passenger vehicles. Let us join hands together and take all initiatives to safeguard our lives on roads and do not allow others to make unnecessary and silly mistakes that can cost us our lives.