By: Ketemba Tjipepa /Josia Shigwedha
More than 700 fatalities and over 4000 injuries are recorded in Namibia annually due to road accidents.This was revealed during the launch of this year's festive season road safety campaign by the Namibia Road Safety Council (NRSC) in collaboration with partners from the transport and law enforcement fraternity at the Okapuka roadblock outside Windhoek.
Statistics further indicate that weekends are riskier, making up 52% of the crashes recorded in 2021.
Speaking at the launch , the NRSC chairman Eliphas !Owos- Oab said a detailed examination of the data shows that accidents occur across the whole country and that densely populated regions experience higher incidences. !Owos-Oab indicated that one third of crashes occured in Khomas with 33%, followed by Erongo (10%), Oshana (10%) and Otjozondjupa (9%) regions. He stated that the types of crashes that occured in 2021 were collision (28%), pedestrians-related crashes (29%) and roll-over crashes with 24 percent.
"As previously stated, we are most concerned with the Khomas region, Otjozondjupa, which stretches within Okahandja, Otjiwarongo, Otavi, Oshikoto, Oshana, Erongo high Motorisation, and Ohangwena. Statistics demonstrated that weekends are riskier, with 52% of the crashes recorded in 2021 occurring from Friday to Saturday, and these accidents always happen on weekends from 12 p.m. to 12 a.m.," stated !Owos-Oab.
In addition, the Inspector General of the Namibian Police, Joseph Shikongo, mentioned that during the festive season, the national roads are the main cause of grievances and that traffic law enforcement officers have been deployed on all roads to ensure that traffic laws and regulations are adhered to.
"It is a common fact that during the festive season, our nation's roads become the main cause of grievances for our nation as a result of currents of tragedy and crushes that increase during this period," Shikongo said.
The campaign commenced on the 16th of November 2022 and is scheduled to run until mid January 2023.