Friday, Aug 05, 2016

Muscat: Sultan Qaboos Bin Saeed of Oman approved on Thursday ammendments to the new Traffic Law through Royal Decree No. 38\2016.

Ammendements include stiffer penalties and increased fines to ensure road safety and reduce the number of fatalties and injuries.

Drivers using mobile phones while driving will be fined 300 riyals and could face jail terms of one month to two years. Drivers who injure others on the road could be jailed up to one year and fined 2,000 riyals.

The full details of the new ammendments will be revealed on Sunday.

Ammendments were approved by the Council of Ministers in 2015 and then sent to Sultan Qaboos for final approval.

Oman has a high number of road accidents, with 6,276 crashes recorded in 2015, resulting in more than 675 deaths.

July was the deadliest month of 2015, with 71 people killed in road accidents.

Staff Report

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