The Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund’s chief of corporate affairs Stephen Tjiuoro has issued a plea to Namibian road users to develop a sense of responsibility and to make roads safe for all.

“The MVA Fund once again emphasises the fact that Namibia is losing its most productive and economically active age groups to road accidents. Of the total 46 fatalities recorded during May, 29 of the deceased fall in the 21-45 age groups,” he said. He called for public involvement in reporting reckless driving and traffic violations (061-222 888) and for community leaders to prioritise road safety and to encourage responsible behaviour and attitudes on the road. This plea comes in the wake of horrific May figures which show that 46 people lost their lives on Namibian roads in that month alone. The MVA ‘s call centre recorded no less that 248 crashes, injuring 468 people apart from those killed. Continuing the trend since the start of the year, Khomas is the most dangerous region in terms of road safety recording 83 crashes with Erongo second with 29 road crashes. Oshana region follows closely with 24 crashes. May marked a 16% increase in the number of crashes reported compared to last year, while fatalities increased by 12%.  Remarkably the 468 injuries are 5% less than the 495 reported in May last year. Ten people died on the Khomas roads last month, six each in Erongo and Otjozondjupa and five in Ohangwena. Twenty-four passengers were killed over the period and 12 drivers died on the road. Pedestrian-related crashes are of concern to the MVA, whose figures show that 35 of the Khomas crashes involved pedestrians. In total 66 pedestrians were involved in crashes around the country last month, nine of whom died as a result. In total 33 people died at the scene of accidents last month, two died on the way to hospital and 11 died in hospital. Fridays have been shown to be the most dangerous days to travel on Namibian roads. For the month on average 42 crashes happened on Fridays with 38 on Thursdays, 37 on Wednesday and 35 on Tuesdays. Saturdays, Sundays and particularly Mondays seem to be the safer choices with only 30 accidents recorded on Mondays in May. Also the statistics show that traveling between the hours of 18h00 and 20h00 is the most dangerous with 51 accidents happening at those times in May. Only four accidents happened between 02h00 and 04h00 which was the lowest recorded. MVA quotes police reports which show that most head-on collisions in May took place on hilly roads and due to overtaking at the wrong places. Speeding around curves and general speeding caused most roll-over type crashes. Pedestrian crashes were caused by complacency, human error and lack of road safety awareness as well as speeding, dangerous overtaking and driving under the influence of alcohol. Driver distractions, like using cellphones are also to blame, as are bad driving habits, road maintenance and defective road designs. Finally pedestrians not wearing bright clothing, not crossing at designated crossings and alcohol abuse are cited as major contributory factors to the accident rate.