MUSCAT: There’s no getting away from the fact that using your mobile phone while driving is illegal and incredibly dangerous.
Yet despite Government-backed awareness campaigns and the hefty increase in penalties, too many people still underestimate the risks of using a mobile phone while driving.
The Royal Oman Police (ROP) has warned motorists to restrict the use of mobile phone while driving.
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Do you have to pay a fine for using a mobile while driving?
As per the law, you have to pay OMR 15, if you are caught using your phone while driving but you can also be jailed for 10 days and fined OMR 300, if you repeat the offence, according to ROP.
According to the ROP, a driver who uses a mobile phone spends 10 per cent of his/her time outside the specified lane, which means he/she creates confusion among the motorists in the adjacent lane or those following him.
One road accident in every 3 hours
According to a report by National Centre for Statistics and Information, one road accident occurred on average every three hours on Oman’s roads in 2018.
“Traffic accidents resulting from speed accounted for more than 70 per cent of the total accidents,” said Brigadier Mohammed Al Rawas, Director General of the Traffic Department at the ROP early this year.
