The CEO of the Motor-Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund Rosalia Martins-Hausiku has urged all road users to work together to minimise road carnages, especially during the fast-approaching festive season.
She said comparing the festive season of 2022/23 to the previous year, crashes reduced by 14.4%, injuries by 17.5%, and fatalities by 42.2%.
“That is due to the collaboration of all the stakeholders. When we say we can attain these reductions, we need to put law- enforcement on the roads. There needs to be visibility, and partners have enabled that,” stated Martins-Hausiku during the Festive Season Road Safety Campaign (FSRSC) fundraising yesterday in Windhoek.
She added: “For 2022, crashes and fatalities declined by 5% and 10%, respectively. While injuries declined by 0.5%, there is still a lot to do in terms of injuries. If we compare 2021 to 2022, crashes increased by 2%, but fatalities by 17%. So, over five years, we are seeing a decline in terms of all three areas.”
Rosalia-Martins said on an annual basis, Namibia was losing more than 750 lives, but over the five years, the country has been recording about 400 to 460 deaths. To date, “we are standing at 347. We know that 347 is quite a lot, but it’s not where we were yesterday”.
She stated that there are emergency responses in various areas so that when accidents occur and things go wrong, there is no delay in the response time.
“If we all go back to our homes and workplaces as road safety ambassadors and make a difference in our workplaces, we have already achieved something because our colleagues are eventually the ones on the road, and they are the change agents,” she observed.
Martins-Hausiku admired the minimised road accidents systems and processes, which exist in countries like Australia, New Zealand and Sweden, and is hopeful that Namibia can reach that phase.
“The campaign dubbed Vision Zero has been effective in Australia, but I saw one common threat - and that is partnerships,” she stated.
Vision Zero is a multi-national road traffic safety project that aims to achieve a roadway system with no fatalities or serious injuries involving road traffic. It started in Sweden, and was approved by their parliament in October 1997.
The executive secretary of the National Road Safety Council, Eugene Tendekule said crashes resulting in cars rolling over top the list in Namibia. In their analysis as a council, this is due to speeding, and the inability of drivers to handle cars at high speed.
“This is hence the focus of law-enforcement to ensure that the speed issue is taken care of, as people kill themselves. We are looking at road users, particularly drivers and pedestrians between 16 and 35 years old, as well as cyclists within those age groups,” he stated.
Although the campaign is countrywide, hotspots that have been established include the Otjozondjupa, Oshana, Erongo and Khomas regions.
“The campaign aims to achieve a maximum reduction in crashes, injuries and fatalities through targeted actions against frequent traffic offences. Their campaign will be implemented by a law- enforcement initiative spearheaded by the Namibian Police. As usual, there will be roadblocks and checkpoints mounted at strategic places for maximum impact, as the idea is to maximise the reduction of fatalities and injuries significantly,” continued Tendekule.
While more pledges are expected from corporate partners in due course, N$1.6 million was raised by various stakeholders involved in the road safety campaign, which include B2Gold, MTC, Bank Windhoek, NBL, Shell Upstream Namibia, NWR and the MVA Fund, which pledged N$600 000 at the fundraising event.
Pledges include refreshments for Nampol officials, NWR vouchers, a portable ventilator, alcohol screening devices, reflective jackets and more.
The 2023/24 road safety campaign will be launched on 17 November at Swakopmund by the line ministry and relevant stakeholders. This will run until 17 January 2024, after which the team will submit an accountability report. -psiririka@nepc.com.na