Road deaths down over the last year

AFTER a horrific start to the festive season, car accidents on the country’s national roads subsided over the last week, with no new deaths reported in the new year.

The total number of people killed in road accidents since the start of December yesterday stood at 49, according to Deputy Commissioner Ralph Ludwig of the Namibian Police’s traffic division.
In the previous festive season, 67 people died on the roads between December 1 and January 15, when the Xupifa Eemwenyo road-safety project ends.
Among the horrors recorded in December were the death of nine people on the main road between Witvlei and Gobabis on December 24.
In this incident, two Isuzu bakkies collided head-on about 20 km outside Witvlei, with both vehicles catching fire.
The accident cost the lives of an entire five-member family from Windhoek, with the exception of their 15-year-old son.
They were identified as Norman Kotzee (46), Neely Kotzee (40), Odrie Kotzee (17), Kimberly Kotzee (9) and Leroy De Klerk.
The boy who survived the incident, Uwe Kotzee, was apparently flung out of the vehicle and sustained serious injuries.
The deceased from the second bakkie involved in this accident were identified as Paulus David, Hileni Kandume (31), Wilhelmina Absalom (24) and David Hengari.
Six occupants of this vehicle are said to have survived the accident.
The total number of road accidents reported by yesterday since the start of December stood at 225, and involved 365 vehicles, Ludwig said.
The number of people who sustained serious injuries in these incidents was reported at 94, while 79 sustained slight injuries.
Ludwig said most of these road deaths could have been avoided if the drivers had paid attention to small things like checking their tyres, seatbelts, brakes and lights before departure.
Other major causes were drivers’ impatience and fatigue, speeding and passing vehicles on blind rises and other illegal places.