Causes of the Traffic Safety Problem in Oman - Case Study Example

Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Public Policy Formation and Analysis Introduction Formation and analysis of the public policies is mostly required during the combination of the approaches of both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The definition of a problem and various issues in the public is part of the formation and analysis of the public policy. The process depends on the styles of various participants in the definition of problems in the society based on the understanding and perception of various individuals in the society. By accumulation of information, a more troubling condition of the society comes into being and is documented. Everyone is involved in the definition of the social problems including the media. The newspapers are filled with articles concerning the undesirable social conditions like violence, crime, drug abuse and traffic accidents which are causing most of the social issues (Shahalam et al. 67). Formulating and analyzing public policies becomes possible handle the social problems because their geographical setting is specified. Most of the public policies describe what should be done by the people in the societies and what should not be done thus minimizing the problems of the behavior of people. The traffic accidents are causing most of the social problems in almost all geographical areas resulting to negative impacts in the public health as well as economic status of the environment due to loss of properties. The essay below considers the nature of the traffic safety problem in Oman and the impacts of the public policy analysis. Nature of the traffic safety problem in Oman According to Cobb and Elder, the policy problems are not automatically given neither are the matters of facts of situations but are dependent on interpretation and social definition. Rochefort also discusses the nature of the problem of traffic safety in Oman and identifies severity, incidence, novelty, proximity and crisis as the elements of the nature of public problems (Rochefort & Cobb 67-8). Importance of the elements The severity element describes the seriousness of the problem and the consequences it is likely to have on the affected. This is directed to capture the attention of the public officials like the political leaders and media because it is an agenda requiring large audiences as it affects large population of people. Based on the seriousness of the problem the public leaders are forced to set the public policies and use the media to communicate them to the targeted public. The Bush administration characterize it as not deserving corrective measures in the fear of the consequences it would have on the economy of the place in support of the process of policy analysis and implementation. The situation is at its worst condition thus a looming disaster to development of the place; this calls for the attention of the public officers to implement public policies. The element of incidence is essential in the dimension of the description representing the general scope of the individuals affected and the other groups at a risk. This intermixes politics and the available information, this describes the occurrence or the frequency of the problem of traffic accidents; whether the problem is declining, stabilizing or growing and the rate of its growth thus the political leaders will be in a position to identify the possible action to take against them to minimize its effects. Various actions like gains in the taxation rates have been set to reduce the occurrence of the problems of trafficking because few automobiles are in operation (Rochefort & Cobb, 78). Novelty is another element of the nature of public problem and its benefits is to enact the winning of the attention of the public. When something becomes obvious the media and other public officers becomes bored and less concern about them thus they are distracted with them. The issue of traffic accidents are very common in Oman thus unless they are a bit unique in their occurrence they do not attract the attention of media and public officials. The element of proximity is also essential in the nature of problem definition. The concerns are attracted to the problem if it is near to their residential places of having impacts on them. The issues of traffic problems affect the lives of most of the people and at all ages because of the loss of property as well as relatives; the health and vitality of the economy and democracy are continuing to be endangered by the occurrences of the public problems The element of crisis is also essential in the description of the problem because most of the traffic issues are described by their emergency occurrence and the disaster they are likely to cause on the normal lives of the people. The death of most prominent people or many relatives may be seen to be unique and causing disaster to the community thus it is seen as a social problem. Evidence establishing these elements As an evidence of severity of the social problems the recent events shows that the discussion concerning a number of social problems disagrees with the objective facts. The opponents of the Bush administration argued that the condition of the problem is at the worst condition and very disastrous to the residents. The element of incidence is supported by the much attention of the media on the problems; this occupies most of the spaces in the today’s newspapers and appears on the first pages as news headlines. The varied recent examples include the surging traffic issues in New York as a result of the increased number of the automobile registration (Salim & Salimah, 102-4). The element of novelty is described by the uniqueness in the occurrence of the social incidences. Some of the traffic accidents are too unusual and seeking public attention for example, if they cause the death of the prominent people or many relatives thus they are given priority by the media practitioners. Proximity is evidenced by the accidents which happens in a certain geographical areas thus they attract the attention of the locals because of the direct effects they have on them. Crisis is evidenced by the emergency of the occurrence of the accident. Most of the accidents are too unusual thus attracting the attention of the public. Causes of the Traffic Safety Problem in Oman The common traffic issues are caused by the careless driving on the highways whereby the drivers over speed or are careless to over-take on the inside lanes of the highways or on the blind bends. This indiscipline of the traffic users is causing most of the problems to the society and other users of the traffic. Registration of excess automobiles is resulting to their congestion in the traffic thus causing most of the traffic problems. According to the statistics 58% of the traffic problems in Oman are caused by negligence of the users while 35% is caused by over speeding, others are minor causes including alcohol which causes 4% while the remaining percentage is caused by road defects, vehicle and weather conditions. In summary 97% of the traffic issues are caused by the faults of the drivers. The weather condition mostly affects air transportation especially when the environment is very cloudy and misty. This becomes difficult for the plots to control their planes thus resulting to occurrence of an accident (Dr. Shahalam, Dr. Galal, Dr. Bakheit & Fadhel, 56-8). The high population of the residents is having effects in the occurrence of the traffic problems and the young people being the most affected because they have little knowledge concerning the traffic policies thus they are left to be passengers in the hands of the ruthless drivers and the children play on the roads and highways thus they are easily involved in accidents in case of ignorant drivers. The cultures of the Oman overlook the activities of training the young ones on the ways of adhering to the traffic safety thus they are causing and being affected by the traffic problems. The institutions also overlook the activities of setting and implementing the policies of avoiding public problems in the name of reducing expenses. These are resulting to the occurrence of most of the public problems due to lack of safety awareness by the public. The individual behaviors are causing most of the problems. Characteristics of the Problem Population The targeted and the affected population in the traffic safety issues in Oman are almost overlapping although they somehow differ. The audiences who are targeted by the public policies include careless traffic users because they are mostly blamed for the occurrence of most of the traffic problems. These policies include the rules that the traffic users must consider to avoid the occurrence of the accidents. All the drivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the requirements of the traffic operations like the best speed to use on the highways, where to overtake and so on. These policies are implemented by the traffic police who ensure that the traffic operators adhere to them. The affected audiences are mostly the members of the public whose traffic safety is dependent on the drivers of the vehicles and other traffic users like the pilots. These are mostly affected by the occurrence of an accident due to loss of properties, lives or body health. They have a role to play in avoiding the occurrence of the accidents by adhering to some of the policies like excess overloading or warning the drivers not to misuse the traffic rules. Although the two sets of audiences are related they differ in the type of policies directed to them (Rochefort & Cobb, 97). Possible Policy Solutions The policy solutions of problems depends of their nature; the definitional struggle in the policy making extends from the aspects of the problem, those affected and interested in it to include the descriptive qualities of the solutions set in the policies. Unless there is general political agreement on the matter, the government might not be able to act. This emphasizes on the empirical, projective and scientific issues in the determination of the likelihoods and outcome of the problem. The nature of the problem is based on the severity and the incidence thus determining the consequences on the affected individuals. This acts as guide to the government in the action to take against the issue. The issue of traffic accidents is most effective to the lives of the individuals and the entire economic conditions of the place. This means that the leaders should be keen on the policy that they set against the problem to minimize the occurrence of the traffic accidents and the effects they are likely have on the affected. This includes the use of the traffic rules and the condition of the automobiles to be allowed in operation (Salim & Salimah 98). The policies to be set against the traffic problems should be dependent on the causes of the problems thus the formulators should consider the root causes of the problem. The policies should clearly define the causes of the problems to prevent the targeted audiences from causing them. Ignorance of the traffic rules is causing most of the problems hence policies should be set to direct the traffic users on the how to behave on the highways to avoid the occurrence of the accidents. The policies mostly focus on the targeted populations like the traffic users because they are assumed to be the main causes of the problems. These include the drivers who mostly ignore the traffic rules and drive at speeds high than the required or others like overtaking at the corners or bends. The targeted populations also are prevented from using unqualified automobiles like the old and fault vehicles on the busy highways as they may cause accidents. The registration of the automobiles should be minimized the number of the vehicles operating in the highways thus reducing the occurrence of the accidents (Dr. Shahalam, Dr. Galal, Dr. Bakheit & Fadhel 37-8). Conclusion Traffic problems are the most common social problems in Oman with the road accidents causing most of the negative impacts in the lives of the residents especially the young people and economic problems due to the properties lost. These problems are mostly caused by the misuse of the traffic rules d excess automobiles in operation. The government has come in to minimize the occurrence of these problems by setting up public policies to be followed by traffic users. These are mostly directed to the targeted audiences although are a times observed by the affected audiences. Work cited Rochefort, David & Cobb, Roger, Problem Definition, Agenda Access, and Policy Choice: Policy Studies Journal, Vol. 21, No. 1, 1993 (56-71) Salim & Salimah, Road Traffic Cr ashes, Al Mustadaama: Al Mustadaama (Sustainability) LLC, 2005. Dr. Shahalam, A, Dr. Galal A, Dr. Bakheit C. & Fadhel E, Factors Analysis And Potential Causes- A case Study In Oman, Oman: National Engineering Conference on Roads,2001. Read More