Muscat: Road accidents have dropped by an average 50 per cent in the last five years in Oman, according to Oman Observer.

The ‘Zero Traffic Accident’ campaign launched by Oman Road Safety Association (ORSA) and other public and private entities seems to be paying off.

The authorities have installed speed cameras every 800 metres and enforced strict laws to clampdown on traffic offences helping them to bring down the accident rate.

A recent study has shown that newborn children and those up to three years sitting on the centre seat in the back are 43 per cent safer than those sitting on the rear side seat.

Forty-one per cent of parents make children sit on the rear side seat, which is not safe for them.

The National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) said 7pc of traffic accidents reported last year were due to motorists not keeping safe distance between vehicles, followed by negligence by drivers, and speeding.

Last year, the Royal Oman Police introduced a host of rules to make roads and users safer, including seatbelts for all, car seats for children, and a new points system that blacklists bad drivers and sends them back to the driving school.