Staff Reporter
Windhoek-Road accidents seem to be on the rise this time of year with 23 lives already lost within the first seven days of the current festive season.
According to statistics released by the Namibian Police (Nampol), as of November 27 to December 3, a total of 57 motor vehicle accidents and 83 injuries were recorded, which consequently resulted in 23 people losing their lives on the road.
A total of 1,880 accidents, 353 fatalities and 3,807 injuries were recorded over a period of three years. “As each festive season accounts for almost forty-five days, all these lives were lost within a period of about 45 days each festive season for the past three years,” explained Nampol’s spokesperson Deputy Commissioner Edwin Kanguatjivi.
Statistics show although there was a slight decrease in accidents during the 2014/2015 festive season, from 614 to 589, the numbers picked up by 6.9%, giving a total of 677 accidents recorded for the 2016/2017 festive season.
According to Kanguatjivi, 278 deaths were recorded all due to 5,888 motor vehicle accidents that occurred between April and November this year.
“In an effort to reduce the number of accidents on our national roads, the Namibian Police Force this festive season has increased police presence on all major roads, especially the B1 and B2 highways.”
To curb such tragedies, the police are cautioning the public to avoid travelling on dates from December 4-13, December 20-28, December 30 to January 4, 2018 and January 8 – 12, 2018. Kanguatjivi said that on all the above-mentioned dates, the roads are congested with heavy traffic.
“It is just the start of the festive season, therefore the need for concerted collaboration between Nampol, the media and all stakeholders to join hands in educating the public on road safety,” said Kanguatjivi.
The statistics further indicate that 34,211 accidents, 1,337 fatalities and 7,368 injuries were recorded between 2014 and 2017.