By Petronella Sibeene WINDHOEK Yet again motorists are being cautioned by the road authorities to comply with traffic rules and regulations during the coming Workers’ Day and Cassinga Day commemorations as measures aimed at fighting non-compliance with road safety intensify. Stakeholders in the Xupifa Eemwenyo Road Safety Campaign yesterday reminded road users, especially drivers, to be sober and behave according to the Namibian traffic rules and regulations during the May holidays to avoid trouble. “Stand-by courts will be mobilized in Ondangwa, Swakopmund and Windhoek during the forthcoming May holiday,” said the Minister of Works, Transport and Communication Joel Kaapanda. The minister appealed to road users to give right of way to emergency vehicles. He added that Namibian road users have an attitudinal problem where they take rules and regulations for granted, resulting in wrong habits being entrenched. Since the beginning of April 2007 when the Xupifa Eemwenyo pilot project was launched, about 4 670 notices were issued to road users who were found to be in breach of behavioural conditions on the national roads. This enabled the State to generate over N$1 million. This week’s statistics reveal that 1182 written notices were issued with over-speeding (387 case) topping the list of offences. A total of 101 tickets were issued for driving without a licence, while 25 vehicles were suspended from the road. Accidents reported in a space of one week were 142 involving 192 vehicles. Seven lives were lost compared to four during the corresponding time last year. With regard to injuries, 16 cases were recorded compared to 50 during the same time last year. Of these accidents, 53 were head-rear collisions, 34 sideswipe, 109 fixed objects, 10 reversing and one head-on. Most of these accidents took place in urban areas, the minister said. Despite dispatching traffic officers all over the country, Kaapanda said that a team was also sent into communities in the pilot regions to educate the masses on road safety. The minister called on all Namibians to participate in fighting bad behaviour on roads. Meanwhile, a Drinking and Driving Road Safety Manual for decision-makers and practitioners was launched this week in the capital. This will help curb drinking and driving which has been identified as one of the main contributing factors to road crashes on Namibian roads. Kaapanda says his ministry realises that the misuse of alcohol is a problem in Namibia and that it impacts negatively on the social fabric of the nation. Traditionally, road safety has been seen as an unfortunate consequence of a transport system and a problem for the transport sector. However, the direct costs of the growing number of crashes do not only fall on the health sector but also businesses and families. The minister commended the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) Namibia for creating such an informative piece and further urged government agencies to utilize it with the aim of coming up with practical plans on how to eradicate road accidents. Executive Secretary of GRSP Namibia, Riaan van Rooyen, pointed out that the recent analysis risks associated with the legal 0.08g/dl are much higher than original studies showed. Many countries subsequently reduced the legal blood alcohol content limit to 0.05g/dl. He believes the problem of drinking and driving affects society at large and it needs co-operation from a variety of sectors and disciplines. “Government efforts through legislation, education and enforcement can be pooled with efforts by the beverage alcohol industry, community-based organisations and academic institutions to address the problem,” he said. Copies of the manual were presented to all stakeholders in the ongoing Xupifa Eemwenyo road safety campaign. The manual is the second in a series of road safety good practice manuals being published as part of the UN Road Safety Collaboration series. The purpose of the manual is to inform readers of practical ways to develop coordinated and integrated programmes to reduce drinking and driving (including two-wheelers). In many countries, road users impaired by alcohol have a significantly higher risk of being involved in a crash involving death and severe injuries.