Vigilance urged on roads

Vigilance urged on roads Figures looking better thus far While we are not out of the woods yet, road safety appears to have improved thus far when compared to figures from last year. As more people are travelling to their respective destinations with the upcoming public holidays, stakeholders have again urged motorists to remain vigilant and obey the rules of the road.

Deputy Commissioner Ralph Ludwig, who heads Nampol's traffic division, told Namibian Sun that there is definitely an improvement on the roads in comparison to last year when looking at the numbers of crashes, injuries and fatalities.

“We are not completely happy yet, but it is going better.”

According to Ludwig the roads are currently much quieter, especially in Windhoek, with most people that have reached their intended holiday destinations.

He said that last week a special team of between 20 to 30 traffic officials were deployed on the country's roads and focused on specific areas such as the B1 and B2 roads and also other priority areas in the north and south.

Next week another team of about 25 traffic officials will be deployed to focus on the New Year's rush and then again a team will be deployed during the last week before the school starts.

According to the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (MVA Fund) for the period of 22 November to 18 December 2016, statistics recorded during the 2016/17 festive season indicate 289 crashes, 517 injuries and 46 fatalities.

This shows a decline in crashes by 21%, injuries by 38% and fatalities by 22% as compared to the same period in 2015.

Most crashes recorded were roll-overs, representing 34% of total crashes followed by collisions with 29% and pedestrian-related crashes by 18%. The cause of roll-over crashes are mostly attributed to how the driver uses the road, consider the surrounding environment given the condition of the vehicle, while other risk factors are driver behaviour and speeding, according to the Fund.

In a road safety message from the CEO of the Fund, Rosalia Martins-Hausiku, she said that road safety has become a national issue of concern due to the ever-increasing fatal road crashes.

She stressed that the Fund and its partners will be more visible during the current festive season with the main intent of saving lives while directing efforts toward enhanced public road safety knowledge and awareness.

According to her road safety awareness will focus on seatbelt safety, journey management, the familiarisation of the accident response number (081 9682), improved law enforcement visibility on the B1 and B2 routes, and a reduction in fatalities and serious injuries.

According to her crash data recorded during 2015 reflected that 4 212 accidents occurred with 702 people that died and 7 333 persons that sustained injuries.

The 2015/16 festive season road crash data shows that 145 of the said 4 212 crashes, 17% of the deaths and 16% of the injuries occurred during the festive season.

Meanwhile Khomas (33%), Erongo (13%) Otjozondjupa (11%) and Oshana (8%) recorded the highest number of crashes.

She says that statistics for the same period also indicate that fatalities increased by 22% of which Otjozondjupa recorded the highest with 15% followed by Oshikoto at 13%, and Hardap at 12%.

The national road safety campaign runs from 16 November 2016 until 17 January 2017.

According to the police overloading of vehicles will be taken very seriously.

The police also say that during the campaign they will target alcohol abuse, drug abuse, distracted driving and fatigue management.

Police will also focus on excessive speed, dangerous overtaking and on all moving traffic violations.

Road users were further warned that their vehicles should be roadworthy and that they should have the proper documentation with them.



ELLANIE SMIT