Road safety in spotlight
Among the most vulnerable road users in Namibia are child pedestrians, who face grave risks while walking to and from school.
n with Amend and the Private Sector Road Safety Forum, launched a road safety programme at Olof Palme Primary School on 26 November.
The programme provides signage for 30km/h speed limits around schools and advocates for the adaptation of legislation to support this reduction in speed around schools in Windhoek.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) more than 1.2 million people die on the world’s roads every year.
Further research shows that a child in Africa is twice as likely to die on roads, compared to a child in any other region of the world.
Road safety partners across Namibia have worked tirelessly to implement 30km/h zones around Olof Plame Primary School and nine other schools in Windhoek.
Khomas governor Laura McLeod-Katjirua said according to Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund statistics there has been a national reduction of 30% in fatalities.
However, Khomas continues to be ranked as the region with the highest number of crashes, leading to the highest number of injuries and fatalities.
The governor added d that proactive measures such as establishing an environment that reduces the number of crashes, will contribute substantially to their reduction.
“We have an obligation to improve safety awareness amongst youth in the Khomas Region, to reduce risky traffic behaviour and the occurrence of traffic injuries, deaths and disabilities on school roads,” she said.
McLeod-Katjirua said school safety zones along transport corridors should be developed, with an emphasis on demarcated zones around school premises and safeguarding infrastructure to protect children and other vulnerable users.
She urged road safety stakeholders to establish a public data system that will allow for identifying problems and then developing programmes and projects that will address these problem areas.
“We need to regard this project as a priority and understand that children are at higher risk than other age groups. They need road safety knowledge and education from an early age. This education and knowledge should start from their homes and schools, by adding it to their syllabus,” she said.
Olof Palme principal Julia Hangula expressed her gratitude towards FedEx Express.
Hangula said the dusty road conditions near the school creates poor vision for both drivers and pedestrians, and called on the public and private sectors to help tar the road.
One of the pupils of the school shared her experience of when she was hit by a car and spent a month in hospital.
FedEx senior manager operations in southern Africa, Ahmed Ebrahim, said they will help create road safety awareness, which will help educate parents, who can then pass the knowledge to their children.
The programme provides signage for 30km/h speed limits around schools and advocates for the adaptation of legislation to support this reduction in speed around schools in Windhoek.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) more than 1.2 million people die on the world’s roads every year.
Further research shows that a child in Africa is twice as likely to die on roads, compared to a child in any other region of the world.
Road safety partners across Namibia have worked tirelessly to implement 30km/h zones around Olof Plame Primary School and nine other schools in Windhoek.
Khomas governor Laura McLeod-Katjirua said according to Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund statistics there has been a national reduction of 30% in fatalities.
However, Khomas continues to be ranked as the region with the highest number of crashes, leading to the highest number of injuries and fatalities.
The governor added d that proactive measures such as establishing an environment that reduces the number of crashes, will contribute substantially to their reduction.
“We have an obligation to improve safety awareness amongst youth in the Khomas Region, to reduce risky traffic behaviour and the occurrence of traffic injuries, deaths and disabilities on school roads,” she said.
McLeod-Katjirua said school safety zones along transport corridors should be developed, with an emphasis on demarcated zones around school premises and safeguarding infrastructure to protect children and other vulnerable users.
She urged road safety stakeholders to establish a public data system that will allow for identifying problems and then developing programmes and projects that will address these problem areas.
“We need to regard this project as a priority and understand that children are at higher risk than other age groups. They need road safety knowledge and education from an early age. This education and knowledge should start from their homes and schools, by adding it to their syllabus,” she said.
Olof Palme principal Julia Hangula expressed her gratitude towards FedEx Express.
Hangula said the dusty road conditions near the school creates poor vision for both drivers and pedestrians, and called on the public and private sectors to help tar the road.
One of the pupils of the school shared her experience of when she was hit by a car and spent a month in hospital.
FedEx senior manager operations in southern Africa, Ahmed Ebrahim, said they will help create road safety awareness, which will help educate parents, who can then pass the knowledge to their children.
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Namibian Sun
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