The Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund, in collaboration with the National Road Safety Council (NRSC), the Roads Authority (RA), and traffic officers from the Namibian and City Police, launched a week-long road safety campaign in Windhoek.
The campaign aims to raise awareness among drivers about responsible road behaviour in preparation for the festive season.
Statistics from last year in terms of crashes show the |Khomas Region accounted for 38%, followed by Erongo with 12%, Oshana with 11%, and Otjozondupa at 8%.
Approximately 400 people die in road accidents each year, with a significant number of these fatalities occurring during long weekends.
In terms of fatalities, Otjozondupa was the highest at 12%, followed by |Khomas at 11%, while Oshana Region accounted for 6% of deaths.
"If we addressed |Khomas, we would have made an impact; we would have made an impact of about 30%, so that's why we thought of coming together for this week, and we want to continue going into the following months, building up to the festive season. The idea is to observe a reduction in road crashes, fatalities, and injuries," said Ruben Uupindi from the MVA Fund.
Roads Authority Executive Officer for Transportation, Sidney Boois, said young people accounted for about 70% of the road safety problem and that stakeholders such as the National Youth Council must be part of creating awareness.
"We need to address the issue as a whole; you cannot have a situation where 80% or 85% of the road use or the planning of Windhoek roads are only for cars; we will have a conflict of pedestrians and other vulnerable users; we need to educate also our road users, especially the pedestrians, during this campaign."
Chief Executive Officer of the Namibia Road Safety Forum, Horst Heimstadt, stressed that there is a stronger need for awareness to avoid road crashes among people.
"Sadly, in most cases, the real trauma of a road crash only comes through once people have been involved in it, and this is where our job as road safety advocates comes into play; we need to educate people to prevent them from going through that trauma."