Heavy vehicle safety in Oman : a situational analysis
DOI: 10.5204/thesis.eprints.104749
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Summary
This thesis addresses the critical issue of heavy vehicle safety in Oman, a country with one of the highest road traffic fatality rates globally. Despite heavy vehicles comprising only 12.5% of registered vehicles in 2011, they are disproportionately involved in severe crashes. The research was motivated by the lack of detailed data on heavy vehicle crashes and the need to understand the underlying cultural, organizational, and behavioral factors contributing to these incidents. The study aims to expand the knowledge base regarding heavy vehicle operations, safety culture, and the effectiveness of deterrence strategies within Oman’s specific context. The research employed a mixed-method approach consisting of three distinct studies. Study 1 analyzed secondary data from the Royal Oman Police (ROP) covering heavy vehicle crash statistics from January 2009 to December 2011. This quantitative analysis identified key characteristics and risk factors associated with fatal crashes. Study 2 involved a quantitative survey of 400 heavy vehicle drivers across five governorates, designed to explore their beliefs, attitudes, and practices regarding organizational safety. However, the survey data exhibited significant social desirability bias, contradicting observed realities. Consequently, Study 3 utilized qualitative participant observation, involving detailed observations of 49 drivers in rest areas over three weeks, to investigate actual behaviors and validate the discrepancies found in Study 2. The findings were analyzed using Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model of Development (BEMD). Study 1 revealed that 3,114 heavy vehicle crashes occurred between 2009 and 2011, with 1,859 classified as 'at-fault,' resulting in 268 deaths and 2,134 injuries. Multivariate analysis identified driver age (41–50 years), expatriate status, and unlicensed driving as significant risk factors. Notably, licensed drivers were 1.64 times more likely to be involved in fatal crashes than unlicensed ones, while not wearing a seatbelt increased fatality risk by 6.58 times. Crash types involving running over persons or animals, as well as those caused by fatigue or vehicle defects, showed significantly higher likelihoods of fatality compared to speed-related crashes. Study 3 confirmed that risky behaviors such as drink driving, speeding, overtaking, driving with bald tires or known faults, mobile phone use, overloading, unlicensed driving, fatigue, and insecure loads were common practices. These behaviors were influenced by micro-systems (driver/vehicle characteristics), meso-systems (road infrastructure), exo-systems (organizational policies and police enforcement), and macro-systems (cultural influences). The significance of this research lies in its comprehensive situational analysis of Oman’s heavy vehicle industry, highlighting the minimal deterrence impact of current policing and the pervasive influence of organizational safety cultures. The study found that many drivers were forced by employers to drive under unsafe conditions, such as with defective vehicles or while fatigued, to meet deadlines. Conversely, industries like oil and gas demonstrated higher safety standards. The findings underscore the need for improved workplace health and safety legislation, better enforcement of traffic laws, and targeted interventions addressing specific risk factors like fatigue and vehicle maintenance. This research provides a framework for understanding heavy vehicle safety in similar cultural contexts within the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
Provenance
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | Crossref | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| archive | success | canonical_url | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| extract | success | pdftotext | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-26 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| enrich | success | openalex | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 6 | 2026-06-26 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-26; verification: verified.
Topics
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- bus coach
- truck driver fatigue
- traffic safety culture
- cultural cross national
- comparative international
- sex gender
Information type
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- Empirical Findings: observational prevalence, crash risk outcomes
- Theoretical Contribution: theory or model