NAMIBIA: Festive Season Death Toll At 50

The statistics, which were recorded until Monday, indicate there were 256 road crashes for the period so far.
More than 650 people died on the country’s roads so far this year.

In a bid to keep fatalities down for this time of the year, the Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund, the National Road Safety Council (NRSC), the police, the Roads Authority (RA) and the Private Road Safety Forum (PRSF) launched their festive season campaign last month.

The campaign has become a regular annual feature, and implements specific targeted interventions, aimed at preventing the needless loss of lives on the country’s national roads.

According to the statistics supplied by the MVA Fund Call Centre, 461 people were injured in 256 road crashes, which have claimed 50 lives since start of the campaign.

This in essence translates to an average of 2.6 lives lost every day on Namibia’s roads since the campaign launch.
According to the MVA Fund, this year’s campaign focuses on supporting law enforcement, to enable the police to effectively rollout interventions, such as random alcohol, vehicle and speed checks.

Emergency medical response teams are ready to provide prompt assistance to any person injured in a road crash.

As part of the campaign, law enforcement will be intensified, particularly on the notorious B1 and B2 routes, in order to facilitate a crackdown on traffic offences, including speeding, not using seatbelts, drunken driving and overloading.
This is being done through close monitoring at roadblocks and increased highway patrols.

Law enforcement has vowed to leave no stone unturned, and road users finding themselves on the wrong side of law, will face its full wrath, said Sidney Boois, who is the acting Chief of Corporate Affairs at the MVA Fund.

In addition, a pilot Emergency Medical Response Satellite Service will be set up at Arandis to respond to road crashes at the coastal town and surrounding areas.

Acting MVA Fund CEO Fanuel Uugwanga said inadequate funding continues to be a major challenge hampering the implementation of the Road Safety Action Plan, and therefore all sources of finance should be explored to address this challenge.

Over 20 institutions and individuals pledged their support towards the campaign this year and more than N$ 1.9 million was collectively raised for its operations.

The public is encouraged to use the Accident Response Number 0819862 to trigger prompt emergency medical response services, in case of a road crash.