Traffic laws to be revised

THE Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication is to revise and modernise Namibia’s traffic laws to reduce the road carnage and make roads safer.

Works and Transport Minister Joel Kaapanda announced in Parliament last Thursday that he would table a new bill “not later than 18 months from now”. The bill would bring about considerable reforms in the road transport sector, driver education and better traffic law enforcement, he said.After a horrific accident toll during the past Christmas holiday, stakeholders held meetings to assess what to do, Kaapanda said.”We established a Road Safety Co-ordination Committee (RSCC) under the leadership of our Ministry and found there was inadequate and lack of traffic law enforcement, lack of co-operation among the various role players and even fragmentation, an ineffective adjudication system for traffic offences and a disorderly public passenger transport system,” Kaapanda said.”We have consulted with stakeholders on the possibility to undertake wide-ranging reforms on vehicle registration, driver training, vehicle testing, traffic law enforcement, transport regulations, road safety education and collision data management,” he added.More goods should be transported by train to reduce the number of trucks on the roads, he noted, and there was a need to check up on long-distance taxis, which picked up extra passengers after they passed roadblocks.Taxis in towns would have to renew their licences every year in terms of the new law, Kaapanda added.”I have to admit that the number of licensed taxis (in Namibia) is not known, as their licences are issued for an indefinite period, but this has been identified as a problem since it is estimated that quite a number of the taxi operations are merely briefcase operations.”The proposed annual renewal of taxi licences would ensure a clean and updated electronic database of taxi licence holders, which would make control more effective, the Minister told fellow MPs.The bill would bring about considerable reforms in the road transport sector, driver education and better traffic law enforcement, he said.After a horrific accident toll during the past Christmas holiday, stakeholders held meetings to assess what to do, Kaapanda said.”We established a Road Safety Co-ordination Committee (RSCC) under the leadership of our Ministry and found there was inadequate and lack of traffic law enforcement, lack of co-operation among the various role players and even fragmentation, an ineffective adjudication system for traffic offences and a disorderly public passenger transport system,” Kaapanda said.”We have consulted with stakeholders on the possibility to undertake wide-ranging reforms on vehicle registration, driver training, vehicle testing, traffic law enforcement, transport regulations, road safety education and collision data management,” he added.More goods should be transported by train to reduce the number of trucks on the roads, he noted, and there was a need to check up on long-distance taxis, which picked up extra passengers after they passed roadblocks.Taxis in towns would have to renew their licences every year in terms of the new law, Kaapanda added.”I have to admit that the number of licensed taxis (in Namibia) is not known, as their licences are issued for an indefinite period, but this has been identified as a problem since it is estimated that quite a number of the taxi operations are merely briefcase operations.”The proposed annual renewal of taxi licences would ensure a clean and updated electronic database of taxi licence holders, which would make control more effective, the Minister told fellow MPs.