Road accident rates in the Sultanate in the first four months of 2018 fell by 39.8 per cent, but death rates have showed a marginal growth, according to statistics released by the Centre.

Total accidents in Oman during January-April period of 2018 declined to 797, which is against 1,323 for the same period of 2017. Stringent traffic rules introduced by the Royal Oman Police (ROP), better awareness on traffic rules among drivers and new roads must have helped to reduce road accidents. However, death cases edged up by 0.5 per cent to 203 in the first four months of 2018, against 202 deaths for the same period of last year. As many as 121 Omanis lost their life during January-April period of 2018, against 141 people for the same period of last year, indicating a fall of 14.2 per cent. However, death rate of expatriates rose by 34.4 per cent to 82 from 61 during the period.

The number of people injured fell by 9.6 per cent to 926 from 1,024 cases during the four-month period. Among the injured, 627 were Omanis and 299 were expatriates, showed NCSI data. As many as 640 people lost their life in 3,845 accidents in 2017.