By Felix Tjozongoro
ONGWEDIVA – Recently we witnessed a number of road accidents, that ended with vehicles exploding and burning completely beyond recognition.
This was exactly been the case with the road accident between Henties Bay and Swakopmund when the FJ Cruiser collided with a bakkie and caught fire.
This past weekend another gruesome head on collision occurred between two sedan vehicles, which claimed the lives of six people (3 adults, two children and one baby) on the scene. The incident occurred on Sunday, February 01, about 20km from Usakos towards Arandis. The sole survivor of the fatal collision was transported in a serious condition to the Usakos State Hospital by a private vehicle. It is reported that the two vehicles caught fire on impact, burning the two drivers beyond recognition.
Last Friday, another person died in a head-on collision on the Okahandja – Otjwarongo road. His vehicle is said to have caught flames following the crash.
These examples are of accidents that only happened during this year so far. Many such accidents took place last year and the years before that.
It is worrisome that government is dragging its feet on a very small but crucial law amendment. This would be to amend the road traffic law to make it mandatory for each vehicle to carry a fire extinguisher. This responsibility will be on the vehicle owner or driver to ensure that his vehicle has this crucial piece of equipment before driving.
Normally during any road accident, other vehicles at times stop at the scene with the intention to assist the injured before the paramedics or fire brigades arrives. Imagine a scenario when 10 cars stop at a scene and they are able to extinguish a potential fire caused by the impact of the accident. The use of fire extinguishers will either saves lives that would have been lost in a raging fire or alternatively accord the family of the loved ones that perish in such car accidents to bury their loved ones with dignity, and not just a matter of scattering ashes.
Therefore, I propose that government should prioritise some of these amendments and implement them without much further delay.