More pedestrians killed on Easter

The past Easter weekend recorded a high number of accidents, with at least three pedestrians losing their lives.
According to statistics provided by the Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund, 16 of the 54 recorded crashes involved pedestrians with three fatalities at crash scenes. All three pedestrians were hit by vehicles while crossing the road and are believed to have been under the influence of alcohol.
“The Fund therefore cautions pedestrians to be extra cautious when using the road because as vulnerable road users, they have a lesser chance of survival in case of a crash,” said the Fund’s Manager of Corporate Communications, Catherine Shipushu.
Two more crashes involving pedestrians were reported in Swakopmund with one involving a child who got seriously injured when he ran in front of a car in Tobias Hainyeko Street. The accident happened on Friday, 29 March. In another, a child sustained minor injuries when he was hit by a vehicle in Mondesa. “Swakopmund was full as usual, but we are very happy to announce that we really had a super weekend. I think it was due to the rain that caused a lot of planned activities not to take place,” said Melvin Cloete, Manager of Traffic Services at Swakopmund. Cloete said only a few cases of driving under the influence of alcohol were reported with a total of 20 accidents reported at the coast during Easter.
According to the MVA statistics, a total of 9 people died from road accidents during the Easter holiday, which is slightly lower than 14 recorded in 2012 during the same period. While road crashes increased by 1 from 53 in 2012 to 54 this year, only 91 injuries were recorded this year in comparison to 112 in 2012, which is a decrease of 21. “We hope that this positive trend continues and that it brings us closer to achieving the objectives of the Decade of Action for Road Safety which is to stabilise and then reduce road deaths by the year 2020,” said Shipushu.