The Roads Authority's Transportation Executive Officer, Sydney Boois, says he is happy that road users are utilising the services of the Mobile Vehicle Testing Station.

The testing station is used by the Roads Authority's Traffic Law Enforcement Team during the festive season and beyond. 

It will be stationed at the Oshikoto roadblock until Friday before being moved to the Ohangwena Region on Saturday. 

"At road blocks, we will also deploy it here; it will check on service and emergency brakes and other critical components to see if the vehicle's compliant. If it's not compliant, the driver will be informed, and if it's beyond issues of safety concerns, it will be suspended. "

The Inspector General of Police, Joseph Shikongo, who also visited the Oshikoto road block, says the force is contemplating extending the festive operations to ensure maximum police visibility on the roads.

Lieutenant General Shikongo also shed light on the festive season road traffic crash statistics.

There has been a 5% increase in road crashes, with 403 crashes recorded in 2023 compared to 382 the previous year.

Fatalities recorded in 2023 were 57, compared to 66 fatalities recorded in 2022.

Additionally, there has been a 2% increase in injuries, from 711 in 2022 to 724 last year.

"And we really want to make sure that this operation continues because it starts from November to January, but our aspiration is to continue beyond that. Because we want throughput the year that we reduce or minimize the road accidents as much as possible."