Shell raises road safety awareness in Oman
By Thalia Rahme
As part of its ongoing efforts to promote road safety in the Sultanate of Oman, Shell – a partner of the Global Road Safety Partnership for over ten years – launched a promising initiative aimed at reducing crash rates in the country under the title “Together for Accident Free Oman“. In partnership with Sheida International and Co. and Oman Road Safety Association, Shell set off an interactive road show that toured 22 crowded locations across Oman throughout January, including commercial malls, colleges and universities.
“The visitors of the road show will learn about safe driving skills from road safety experts, talk to people with life-changing experiences and share road safety issues and ideas. Visitors will also get the opportunity to try the seatbelt convincer, which simulates a low-impact vehicle collision, in order to stress on the importance of wearing a seatbelt,” said Shell Development Oman, in a press release earlier this year. “The state of the art driving simulator will also be a practical and effective educational tool to impart safe driving training techniques for all drivers.”
The numbers of car crashes in Oman are among the highest worldwide. Latest available figures indicate that 6,000 people have lost their lives on the roads of Oman, and 70, 000 were injured between 2000 and 2008.
“Our ultimate goal is to reach the drivers’ hearts and minds and spread a culture of road safety in society. This goal cannot be achieved without the collaboration of all segments of the society, and hence comes the theme of our campaign “Together for Accident Free Oman”, said Hilal Al Mawali, External Affairs Manager, Shell Development Oman.
Shell’s commitment to global road safety in not new; the company has been an active member of the Global Road Safety Partnership since 2000, and is one of the main supporters of the Global Road Safety Initiative. Since 2008, Shell has also been supporting road safety activities in different parts of the Middle East and North Africa.
