Death Takes Its Toll On Namibian Roads

DEATH took a high toll on Namibian roads this holiday season, with scores more people killed than in the same period last year.

This shows that despite the efforts of the Road Safety Council, law enforcers and other concerned groups, much more needs to be done in the future to educate the Namibian driving public on road safety rules and regulations in order to minimise loss of life and injuries in future. By this week alone, 73 people had been killed in road accidents, compared with a figure of 41 for the same period last year.Many of the victims were children; young lives lost, in most part, due to speeding or irresponsible driving, mostly on the part of adults themselves.This senseless loss of life should be minimised at all costs, and the Road Safety Council and law enforcement bodies need to get back to the drawing board to start a countrywide, safe-driving campaign for the year ahead, and preferably, doing so in all local languages.This newspaper attempted to draw attention to the safe-driving campaign prior to the start of the holiday season, but our words too, apparently fell on largely deaf years.Not all the accidents and fatalities were on national roads.Some of them were in towns with quiet roads and little traffic at this time of the year, again, all pointing to largely driver error and speed in such situations.The campaign therefore needs to target long-distance and in-town driving alike, for drivers who fail to heed a red traffic light in an urban area are as likely to overtake on a solid line on a national road.Perhaps our lawmakers also need to re-look at the penalties for drunk and reckless driving, and to make them harsher.But only this fact in itself will not act as a deterrent: a concerted campaign has to focus the minds of the driving public on safety issues, and such a campaign must continue throughout the year and not only over holiday periods.Our motorists in particular must be made more aware of the risks of speeding and reckless driving.There must of course, also be strict enforcement of road rules and regulations.Traffic officers are still more visible hovering around parking meters than they are on our national roads.Checks at roadblocks need to be more thorough.Too often, over this holiday season, people reported columns of vehicles simply being waved through these checkpoints.At present the campaign is stop-start and not consistent.Perhaps the Road Safety Council, in consultation with law enforcement officials and institutions such as the Motor Vehicle Fund and others, should work on an effective campaign and solicit the help of the media in order to give it voice.A public hotline would also help to ensure concerned members of the public could report contraventions of any kind, since traffic officials cannot be everywhere, all the time.All of us need to help such a campaign, and this newspaper would quite happily bring our part to help minimise the tragic road roll in future.By this week alone, 73 people had been killed in road accidents, compared with a figure of 41 for the same period last year.Many of the victims were children; young lives lost, in most part, due to speeding or irresponsible driving, mostly on the part of adults themselves.This senseless loss of life should be minimised at all costs, and the Road Safety Council and law enforcement bodies need to get back to the drawing board to start a countrywide, safe-driving campaign for the year ahead, and preferably, doing so in all local languages.This newspaper attempted to draw attention to the safe-driving campaign prior to the start of the holiday season, but our words too, apparently fell on largely deaf years.Not all the accidents and fatalities were on national roads.Some of them were in towns with quiet roads and little traffic at this time of the year, again, all pointing to largely driver error and speed in such situations.The campaign therefore needs to target long-distance and in-town driving alike, for drivers who fail to heed a red traffic light in an urban area are as likely to overtake on a solid line on a national road.Perhaps our lawmakers also need to re-look at the penalties for drunk and reckless driving, and to make them harsher.But only this fact in itself will not act as a deterrent: a concerted campaign has to focus the minds of the driving public on safety issues, and such a campaign must continue throughout the year and not only over holiday periods.Our motorists in particular must be made more aware of the risks of speeding and reckless driving.There must of course, also be strict enforcement of road rules and regulations.Traffic officers are still more visible hovering around parking meters than they are on our national roads.Checks at roadblocks need to be more thorough.Too often, over this holiday season, people reported columns of vehicles simply being waved through these checkpoints.At present the campaign is stop-start and not consistent.Perhaps the Road Safety Council, in consultation with law enforcement officials and institutions such as the Motor Vehicle Fund and others, should work on an effective campaign and solicit the help of the media in order to give it voice.A public hotline would also help to ensure concerned members of the public could report contraventions of any kind, since traffic officials cannot be everywhere, all the time.All of us need to help such a campaign, and this newspaper would quite happily bring our part to help minimise the tragic road roll in future.