ROP installing smart surveillance cameras on major roads

Muscat: The Royal Oman Police (ROP) has highlighted its ongoing efforts to keep pace with new technological developments, such as self-driving cars, and their potential impact on traffic safety.

The ROP recently launched smart traffic monitoring systems and is working on future projects that incorporate artificial intelligence to enhance traffic management.

These initiatives pave the way for integrating smart vehicles into Oman’s transport network by monitoring global trends and assessing potential risks.

As part of this effort, the ROP is studying the experiences of other countries to develop a future regulatory framework tailored to Oman’s environment.

The analysis covers key risks associated with emerging technologies, including the safety of autonomous vehicles and the question of legal responsibility in the event of accidents.

To strengthen the nation’s smart safety infrastructure, the ROP is upgrading traffic signals to align with Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), enhancing automated traffic monitoring with advanced technologies, and installing smart surveillance cameras on major roads.

Traffic safety is a significant community issue that touches the lives of the individuals of the society, notably with the increase of the number of vehicles and the expansion of the road networks in Oman, which requires gathering the official and community efforts for cementing the culture of commitment with the traffic rules and systems.

Royal Oman Police continues with its efforts for protection of lives and provision of a safe and secure traffic environment. 

Brigadier Ali bin Saleem Al Falahi, Director General of Traffic at Royal Oman Police said that the traffic safety institutes in the governorates of the Sultanate of Oman play a vital role in boosting traffic culture for drivers and applicants for driving licences.

He said that the traffic safety institutes work on upgrading their programmes in accordance with the state-of-the-art technologies and the programmes and curricula related to the field of traffic safety. 

He said that the traffic safety institutes train school bus drivers within the defensive driving programme in coordination with the Ministry of Education. The results of this programme are revised through following with the performance of drivers in transporting the students, soothing that reflects positively on improvement of the performance of drivers and the reduction of their traffic breaches.

He said that the traffic safety institutes in the governorates of the Sultanate of Oman offer specialised training programme including the syllabus on training on defensive driving, the syllabus of training driving vehicles’ instructors, taxi drivers training programme and heavy vehicle drivers training syllabus among other programmes.  

Regarding the role of the National Road Safety    Committee, he said that the committee works on establishment of the strategies and the guidelines related to traffic safety and implementation of the same in cooperation with the government departments concerned. 

The recommendations of the committee included the one on setting a national strategy for curbing traffic accidents and setting plans for media coverage for the purpose of dissemination of awareness on traffic culture among the members of the society.

He also pointed out to the cooperation existing between the ROP and the Ministry of Education which aimed to raise the students’ traffic awareness and traffic culture.

He also pointed to the implementation of the  Road Friends VIA experimental programme during the school year 2022 / 2023, which has later covered 33 schools in the various governorates of the Sultanate of Oman. 

He said that the organisation of the Traffic Safety Competition comes within the belief of ROP on the effective role the government and individuals of the society play in traffic awareness and dissemination of traffic culture.