To the Editor, The review paper by Jeremy D. Davey and James E. Freeman on Improving Road Safety through Deterrence- Based Initiatives, published in SQUMJ in February 2011, is an interesting discussion and overview of this important topic.1 The clarity of the presentation and the balanced view provided by the authors add much value to the paper. In addition, stressing the aspects of culture and cultural change in relation to road safety practices is of particular importance. As asserted by the authors, the deterrence-based approach is not the magic panacea for road traffic accidents, nor does it provide lasting behavioural changes. Despite the theoretical appeal of deterrence as a control measure for the performance of the drivers, evidence shows repeatedly that legislation and deterrence- based approaches to change behavior of road users produce weak, marginal or transient results.2,3,4 Studies over several decades have shown inconsistent results. It appears that what is more potentially important in this context than deterrence-based legislations is a deeper understanding of required changes in the social atmosphere.5 Successful law enforcement is based on its capacity to build an effective deterrent peril to road users and its appeal to the culture. In this letter, we would like to share with you a basic analysis of the offences and crashes data reported by the Royal Oman Police (ROP) in the last 10 years, viz. 2000 to 2009.6 In the year 2000, ROP ticketed around 230,000 offences which is equivalent to around a half offence per registered vehicle during that year. By 2009, the number of offences had increased almost eight-fold exceeding 1,800,000 offences with around 2.5 offences per vehicle. During all those years, Omani male drivers were responsible for more than 90% of all offences. If we focus on speeding, which is the highly cited cause of death from road traffic incidents (RTI) in Oman and elsewhere,7-9 we see that speeding related offences as a percentage of all traffic offences have increased from around 32% in 2000 to over 85% in 2009. At the same time, the number of crashes attributed to speeding increased from 39% to around 51% during the same period. Elsewhere, longitudinal research has shown that receiving speeding fines is actually associated with increased risk of getting ensuing speeding tickets.10 This may indicate that enforcing speeding tickets alone may not be effective. There is, therefore, a need to consider other deterrence strategies that considers the context. Quoting Davey JD and Freeman JE, "the effectiveness of any deterrence-based enforcement practice is heavily dependent upon increasing motorists’ perceptions regarding the risk of being apprehended for an offence, e.g., general deterrence". However, the question is what are the perceptions of "risk" and "speeding" of our young drivers? Culturally determined bias is an important factor in the perception of risk and the causes of accidents.11 As such, it is of paramount importance to address the socio-cultural aspects of accidents. For example, the core component of speed, i.e. time, needs to be considered within the broader social context. Traditional communities, like Oman and other Gulf countries, lived previously in a more relaxed manner as their time was SQU Med J, August 2011, Vol. 11, Iss. 3, pp. 420-423, Epub. 15th Aug 11 Received - 28th May