Erongo records most road fatalities over Independence

Records collated by the Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund call centre show that eight people were killed during the Independence long weekend. Despite a decrease in the number of accidents, two more individuals died this year than the six victims of last year. Statistically, this makes fatalaties 33% higher for 2014 than for 2013.

Road crash data collected by the MVA Fund call centre has shown that people in the age group of 16 to 40 bore the brunt of the accidents. Of the deceased, three were in the 21-40 age group while another three were in the 46-70 age group and the age of two crash victims has yet to be established the MVA Fund said in a statement released this week.
According to the MVA Fund there was a general reduction in road crashes and injuries during the past long weekend, as opposed to the previous two years. Road crashes were down 34% and injuries down 56%. In terms of injuries, the data further indicates that the level of injuries sustained during the long weekend ranged from mild to serious.

Historically, crashes involving pedestrians rank as the number one cause of injuries and death. This was also the case during Independence weekend 2013 and 2014. This year, pedestrians accounted for eight crashes, while seven roll-overs and nine collisons were recorded. According to the MVA Fund statement, a total of 33 road crashes were reported to the MVA Fund Call Center during the long weekend. This reflects a reduction by 17 in comparison to the same period last year when 50 crashes were recorded. The number of injuries also decreased from 106 during the same period last year, to 45 this year. Fatalities increased by two in comparison to six fatalities resulting in the horrific 33% increase. The Khomas and Erongo regions recorded the highest number of crashes during the 2014 period with 13 and 9 crashes respectively, while Omusati, Karas, Ohangwena and Omaheke regions recorded no crashes. The Erongo region recorded the most fatalities during the 2014 Independence weekend. Four people lost their lives on the Erongo regional roads. The Hardap, Zambezi, Oshikoto and Otjozondjupa, regions recorded one fatality each. No fatalities were recorded from Karas, Khomas, Oshana, Kunene, Omusati, Omaheke, Ohangwena and Kavango regions during the 2014 Independence weekend.