By Albertina Nakale
WINDHOEK – The Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund of Namibia Head of Accident and Prevention, Jones Lutombi, says about 68 percent of pedestrians either killed or injured on national roads are aged between 16 and 40 years.
He said Kavango has been identified as the region with the highest mortalities of pedestrians bumped by motorists on the roads.
“People are bumped more in Windhoek but more die in Kavango. Pedestrians walk where they are not supposed to walk. Our roads do not separate between humans and motor vehicles. There is a human-vehicle conflict going on. The trend will worsen if we don’t do anything now,” he noted.
Recently the MVA in partnership with the City Police embarked on road safety pedestrian campaigns around Windhoek.
Lutombi who was speaking on Friday during a MVA media function said the younger generation are at risk of being run over by cars because they listen to music by using earphones while crossing the road.
“They can’t hear a vehicle coming their way. We want a zero-fatality tolerance in Namibia,” said Lutombi.
City Police Superintendent Gerhard Kakonda said the Windhoek Municipality will soon introduce revised road traffic regulations.
The noticeable improvements include the regulation of vehicles in tandem with the Road Traffic and Transport Act, 1999 and Regulations of 2001.
Furthermore, the regulations are intended to introduce stringent measures to deal with habitual offenders with the introduction of a points demerit system.
“We are confident that habitual offenders will be prevented by the Roads Authority from renewing their driving and vehicle licences,” Kakonda said.
“We have the sole responsibility to identify crash black spots and inform the city engineers accordingly to find remedial measures such as speed humps, chicanes and raised pedestrian crossings,” he added.
Kakonda said Monte Christo Road is one of the worrisome roads in the city with a high pedestrian mortality rate.
He attributed high volumes of pedestrian traffic to the densely populated informal settlements coupled with inadequate pedestrian fatalities.
Further, Kakonda said during pedestrian safety law enforcement exercises they found that pedestrian safety is non-existent as most drivers disregard road signs and right of way. About 70 courtesy notices were issued for traffic offences last week.