Windhoek, Dec. 7 – – “But at the end it is you yourself that can save your own life when you abide by the road safety regulations” Horst Heimstadt from Self Regulatory Alcohol Industry Forum (SAIF) told Motor Media Namibia (MMN) during the launch of the 2020/2021 road safety campaign on Friday.
When asked what will be different this year when it comes to road safety, Heimstadt told Motor Media Namibia that here will be more and randomly speed control points, “pop-up” (random) roadblocks and more patrols to enforce road safety.
Another problem on our roads are the 7-seater taxis operated between Windhoek and major town across Namibia the road safety activist added.
While attending the launching at the NamPol roadblock north of the capital Windhoek, not less than seven 7-seater taxis were pulled over by the authorities of which no one were in possession of any legal documents to transport passengers. They all were issued a hefty fine while all were warned to get their documentation in order.
This off course added Heimstadt cause uncalled delays for passengers reaching their destination, while some passengers were left stranded next to the road causing inconvenience and often with no other means of transport.
To prevent this passengers are advised to ask any operator to show his PDP and other relevant documentation to avoid any delays to their destinations.
This remains an issue one of the police officers told MMN as these drivers in most cases do not adhere to the speed limits, do not have any Public Driving Permits (PDP) or drive while fatigued.
Upon closer inspection by MMN, we found that even smaller passengers are loaded in the back of the vehicle that is reserved for luggage. This alone is a serious safety issue as the passengers have no way of any escape in case of an crash.
According to the MVA website 384 people died this year to date on Namibian roads. This is much lower in comparison with the 2019 figures when 527 people died on the roads in motor vehicle crashes. This could be contributed to the Covid-19 travel restrictions.
The MVA called on all motorists to make use of their emergency number 081 9682 to report any accidents or traffic violations for swift action.
The Namibian Police Force (NamPol), The Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (MVA), Namibia Breweries (NBL), First National Bank (FNB), and the AA are some of the entities that threw their weight this season fora safer festive season on the roads.
Compiled by
Francois Lottering
