Road Accidents in Namibia

140 Pages·2013·7.42 MB·English

Road Accidents
in Namibia
Statistical Report 2009
Pedestrians
Passengers
Drivers
Fatalities
Road Accidents in Namibia: Statistical Report 2009
Launch of Pedestrian Crossing at Kandjengedi, Oshakati
Data analysed 2012
Report published: 2013
Road Accidents in Namibia: Statistical Report 2009
FOREWORD
IT is my pleasure to present our 2009 collision statistical report based on the
analysis of collision reports as provided by police stations across the country. The
purpose of this report is to present an overview of the road safety situation, risk
factors, the impact of road traffic injuries on society and possible ways to prevent
or reduce road accidents. This report may therefore serve as a handy decision-
making tool in the road transport and health sectors or as an authoritative refer-
ence material for research purposes.
Road traffic injuries place a heavy burden on global and national economies and household finances. Many
families are driven into poverty by the loss of breadwinners and the added burden of having to care for mem-
bers who become disabled as a result of injuries sustained in road traffic accidents. In 2009, Namibia records
over 15,000 vehicle crashes, 4,000 injuries and about 300 deaths, and most of the drivers and passengers in-
jured, disabled or killed fell in the age range of between 10 and 56 year, while pedestrian fell under 20 age
category. Furnished with accurate statistical data, stakeholders in road safety would be able to make informed
decisions on road safety management such as enforcement of legislation to control speed, drunk driving, usage
of seat belts, wearing of helmets as well as driver and vehicle fitness.
The number of crashes during the period under review generally rose in comparison to the previous year. The
Khomas region had the largest number of crashes followed by Erongo, Oshana, Otjozondjupa and Karas. This
is attributed to the logic that the chances of a crash occurring should be higher where there are more vehicles.
Although a high number of crashes occurred in urban areas due to high traffic volumes, it is the rural areas that
are associated with a high number of fatalities due to the impact of the crashes at high speed. This kind of situ-
ation is of great concern to us all and requires a strong political will and concerted efforts from all stakeholders,
including the government and non-governmental institutions, to develop counter-measures towards attaining
a safe road environment.
Significant challenges were experienced during the data gathering process. These included the problem of un-
der reporting of casualties, as well incomplete reporting of crash reports. Deficiencies such as lack of proper
record keeping, inadequate training, and lack of understanding of the importance of crash reports became pro-
foundly evident. Nevertheless the unreliable data was taken into account during the analysis and the NRSC is
therefore confident this report fairly represents the situation on the ground.
In conclusion, I would like to advise the reader that the data contained herein should be interpreted within
the Namibian context and cognisance should be taken that no corrective factors have been applied to comply
with the 30-day period of ‘killed in a crash’ according to the international definition. Hence, data in this report
must be seen in the context of a fatality that occurred within 24 hours. Further, analysis and comparison with
international collision data take into account Namibia’s socio-economic peculiarities as well as traffic and other
relevant data.
Finally, on behalf of the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) and the Secretariat, I would like to extend many thanks
to police stations who did their best to ensure that Namibian Road Accident Forms were sent in time to their re-
gional headquarters for data capturing. I urge those stations that did not send in their reports, to do so in the future.
It is my hope that this report will be a useful tool not only for the transport sector but also for the general public.
George Simataa, Chairman,
National Road Safety Council
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Road Accidents in Namibia: Statistical Report 2009
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive summary .................................................................................................................... 5
Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 8
Road traffic indicators ................................................................................................................ 10
Road traffic injuries ...................................................................................................................... 28
Injury severity of road user groups ............................................................................................. 39
Conclusions and recommendations ............................................................................................ 67
APPENDICES
Appendix I: Country of origin and severity of injury of drivers .................................................... 69
Appendix II: Pedestrian crash locations ...................................................................................... 72
Appendix III: Crash location and injury severity (outside town/city) .......................................... 96
Appendix IV: Street location and injury severity ........................................................................ 102
Appendix V: Number of casualties by police station and regions ............................................... 133
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Road Accidents in Namibia: Statistical Report 2009
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Figure 1, 2: Populations size and chances of dying in a road crash ..................................................................12
Figure 3, 4: Vehicles used and chances of dying in a road crash ......................................................................13
Figure 5: Annual change in percentage increase/ decrease in fatalities and casualties over
the 8-year period (2002 – 2009) .................................................................................................15
Figure 6: Number of crashes, vehicles involved and injury accidents over eight years
(2002 – 2009) .................................................................................................................................15
Figure 7: Severity of injury resulting from road crashes over eight years (2002 – 2009) ..............................16
Figure 8: Number of road crashes by region .................................................................................................19
Figure 9: Number of injury accidents and fatalities by region ......................................................................19
Figure 10: Regional distribution of the rates of death as per number of registered vehicles .........................20
Figure 11: Density of crashes per square kilometre ........................................................................................23
Figure 12: Regional distribution of population, area (in square kilometres) and
number of crashes .........................................................................................................................24
Figure 13: Type of crash ranked by severity of injury: fatalities, serious and slight injuries ...........................29
Figure 14: Number of crashes per month .......................................................................................................32
Figure 15: Injury severity by month ................................................................................................................33
Figure 16: Number of crashes by day of the week ..........................................................................................34
Figure 17: Injury severity by day of the week .................................................................................................35
Figure 18: Injury severity by time of the day ..................................................................................................36
Figure 19: Number of crashes by time of the day and day of the week .........................................................38
Figure 20: Injury severity according to different road user group (Percentage) .............................................40
Figure 21: Distribution of injury crashes by gender of road user (Percentage) ..............................................41
Figure 22: Driver injury status by gender ........................................................................................................42
Figure 23: Passenger injury status by gender..................................................................................................42
Figure 24: Pedestrian injury status by gender .................................................................................................43
Figure 25: Distribution of crashes in which drivers were involved by age category .......................................44
Figure 26: Distribution of crashes in which passengers were involved by age category .................................44
Figure 27: Distribution of crashes in which pedestrians were involved by age category ................................45
Figure 28: Driver injury severity by age category ............................................................................................46
Figure 29: Passenger injury severity by age category .....................................................................................47
Figure 30: Pedestrian injury severity by age category ....................................................................................47
Figure 31: Number of driver casualties by selected vehicle types ..................................................................49
Figure 32: Cyclist injury severity, 2007 - 2009 .................................................................................................50
Figure 33: Number of passenger casualties by selected vehicle types ...........................................................51
Figure 34: Number of pedestrian casualties by selected vehicle types ..........................................................52
Figure 35: Selected driver action by percentage of casualties sustained by road users .................................54
Figure 36: Distribution of crashes where drivers were tested for alcohol use ................................................55
Figure 37: Drivers and passengers who reported the use of seat belts at time of crash ................................56
Figure 38: Number of pedestrians killed and injured by time of the day .......................................................58
Figure 39: Position of pedestrian ....................................................................................................................59
Figure 40: Location of pedestrian ...................................................................................................................59
Figure 41: Action of pedestrian .......................................................................................................................60
Figure 42: Top ten crash locations outside town/city sorted by percentage
of injury accidents ..........................................................................................................................64
Road Accidents in Namibia: Statistical Report 2009
Table 1: Variations in the road safety situation across years:
Road traffic indicators and measures of exposure to risk for the
years 2002 – 2009 .................................................................................................11
Table 2: Annual change in number of crashes and outcome of crashes ............................14
Table 3: Number and rates in variation by crash counts for regional distribution, 2009 ...18
Table 4: Number of crashes per square kilometre .............................................................22
Table 5: Type of crash by region .........................................................................................25
Table 6: Regional distribution of accident type ranked by frequency of occurrence .........27
Table 7: Type of crash and severity of injury ......................................................................28
Table 8: Number of young people killed or injured by type of road traffic crash...............31
Table 9: Crashes and injury severity by month ..................................................................32
Table 10: Number of crashes and injury severity by day of the week ..................................33
Table 11: Injury severity by time of day ...............................................................................35
Table 12: Number of crashes by time of the day and day of the week ................................37
Table 13: Injury severity according to different road user group .........................................39
Table 14: Distribution of injury crashes by gender of road user ..........................................41
Table 15: Driver injury severity by vehicle type ...................................................................48
Table 16: Injury severity of drivers .......................................................................................49
Table 17: Passenger injury severity by vehicle type .............................................................50
Table 18: Pedestrian injury severity by vehicle type ............................................................52
Table 19: Driver action and casualties sustained by road users ...........................................53
Table 20: Number of road users injured or killed by driver action: Travelling straight ........54
Table 21: Pedestrian severity of injury by time of the day ...................................................57
Table 22: Distribution of pedestrian action by pedestrian location .....................................61
Table 23: Damages to vehicles .............................................................................................62
Table 24: Top ten crash locations and crash severity outside town/city ..............................63
Table 25: Top crash locations outside town/city by number of pedestrians
killed or injured .....................................................................................................64
Table 26: Top ten street locations and crash severity inside town/city ................................65
Table 27: Top street locations inside town/city by number of pedestrian killed or injured .66
LIST OF ACRONYMS
GPS Global Positioning System
LDV Light Delivery Vehicle
NRAF Namibian Road Accident Form
NRSC National Road Safety Council
VKT Vehicle Kilometres Travelled
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Road Accidents in Namibia: Statistical Report 2009
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The National Road Safety Council (NRSC) is of affected road users to the number of road
tasked with the capturing and processing of the crashes appears to have declined slightly.
Namibia Road Accident Forms (NRAF) and the
A regional distribution of the number of road
subsequent dissemination of the annual road
accidents reveals that over half of all crashes
accident statistics that portray the road safety
occurred in Khomas region (8,590 or 55.3
situation in the country. The road accidents
percent), followed by Erongo (12.2 percent),
statistics contained in this report are based on
Oshana (8.7 percent), Otjozondjupa (6.8
the information derived from the NRAFs which
percent) and Karas (3.8 percent). These five
are completed for each road accident reported
regions also topped the list in 2008 albeit in
at police stations countrywide.
a slightly different order with Oshana and
The total number of road crashes registered Otjozondjupa changing places. The highest
at various police stations in Namibia and number of fatalities per 10,000 people was
processed by the NRSC for 2009 amounted recorded in Oshana, with four people in 10,000
to 15,537. Compared to the previous year, being at risk of injury. Other regions whose
this presents a substantial increase of 12.4 fatality rate stood at two or more people per 10
percent in road accidents over 12 months. 000 were Erongo, Omaheke, Karas and Hardap.
Over the span of eight years, the number of
A negative relationship between the number of
crashes has risen on average by 5.5 percent.
registered vehicles and the number of fatalities
This upward trend reflects a similar escalation
per 1,000 vehicles was observed across the
in the number of registered vehicles on the
regions. For regions with a low vehicle density
road (3.7 percent) and an overall growth in the
such as Caprivi, Ohangwena, Kunene and
number of vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT)
Omaheke, the number of road deaths per
(6.1 percent) from 2002 to 2009. [See Table 1]
1,000 registered vehicles was four or more. By
The safety situation on Namibian roads contrast, in regions with the highest vehicle
remains precarious as demonstrated by the density – Khomas, Erongo and Karas – the
11.3 percent increase in the number of injury number of people killed on the roads fell to
crashes from 2008 (2,279) to 2009 (2,537). one per 1,000 registered vehicles.
This observation is supported by a comparable
A problem that presents itself with this road
8.3 percent rise in the number of casualties,
safety indicator is that a decline in fatalities may
i.e. number of road users killed, and seriously
reflect the growth in the number of registered
or slightly injured over the two years (3,845 to
vehicles rather than measuring real gains in
4,164). The steepest increase was noted for
saved lives. Possibly, a more objective measure
the number of slight injuries (from 2,251 to
of exposure to risk is the number of Vehicle
2,483 or 10.3 percent). The number of fatally
Kilometres Travelled (VKT), with the related
injured road users rose by 7.3 percent (from
road traffic indicator measuring the number of
259 to 278) while serious injuries reported a
fatalities per 10 million VKT.
5.1 percent escalation (1,335 to 1,403).
As observed in the previous two years, head-
Despite considerable fluctuation in the
rear-end crashes continued to be the most
numbers of casualties from year to year, a
frequently occurring road accident in 2009
general upward trend across the eight years
(3,411 in total). Collisions with animals
(2002 – 2009) was identified. However, if the
(1,700) and crashes with objects (1,554)
increasing number of road accidents across
were positioned in second and third place
the eight years is taken into account, the ratio
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Road Accidents in Namibia: Statistical Report 2009
respectively. Amongst the accident types with shows that a large proportion of fatalities
particularly severe outcomes were single vehicles belonged to pedestrians (9.8 percent) instead of
that rolled and resulted in the highest number of drivers (6.2 percent). This finding indicates that
fatalities (96) and serious injuries (529); crashes there is a higher chance of dying in pedestrian
with pedestrians (resulting in 73 deaths, 273 injury crashes compared to vehicle occupant
serious injuries); and head-on collisions (22 injury crashes.
fatalities, 67 serious injuries). Regions where
Over two thirds of driver casualties (1,086 or
single vehicle overturns were amongst the most
68.1 percent) fell within the age category of 17-
frequently occurring accidents were Hardap and
56 years while 13.8 percent were below the age
Karas, whereas Khomas, Oshana and Erongo
of 24. Passengers were slightly younger, at 10 -56
recorded the highest number of pedestrians
years of age. Unlike the age groups for drivers
involved in road accidents.
and passengers, half of the pedestrian victims
The number of road crashes per month did not (185 or 43.9 percent) were under the age of 20,
vary greatly. Months with the highest number an alarmingly high statistic.
of crashes were May (1,361), June (1,338) July
The highest number of fatal accidents were
(1,472) and August (1,378), and those with the
recorded for the motor car/station wagon
lowest number of road accidents were December
(38 fatalities), followed closely by 37 fatally
(1,174), January (1,092) and February (1,191).
injured drivers of light delivery vehicles (LDV).
Injury crashes were most prevalent in May (243)
Both types of vehicles also accounted for the
and September (230). Although the number of
majority of serious and slight driver injuries.
accidents for December was surprisingly low,
A marked increase in the number of fatal and
these accidents resulted in a high number of
serious injuries to cyclists, as well as to drivers of
casualties (366). Months that recorded a high
minibuses was observed from the previous year.
number of deaths amongst road users were May
The death toll for drivers of minibuses rose from
(35), February (30), December (28) and March
2 in 2008 to 7 in 2009, and the number of serious
(27).
injuries increased from 8 to 13. Two cyclists died
Fridays and Saturdays accounted for most of the in 2008, compared to ten the following year,
road crashes (2,571 and 2,364 respectively) with while the number of serious injuries for this
a resultant high incidence of fatalities (104) and driver group escalated from 18 to 26 over the
serious injuries (494). The highest number of two years.
fatalities (54) occurred between 18:01 and 20:00,
The endeavour to produce reliable road accident
while the preceding hours between 16:01 and
statistics is negatively affected by the recurring
18:00 were also particularly unsafe (33 fatalities
problem of the underreporting of casualties.
and 197 serious injuries). The safest time to be
For one, not all injury accidents may have been
on the road was at night between 2:01 and 6:00.
reported by the concerned parties. Of those
As has been reported in previous years, there which have been registered at police stations
were considerably more male drivers (1,556) countrywide, inaccurate and incomplete
involved in road crashes than females (213). reporting of the crash by police officers and/
Gender statistics amongst passengers were more or drivers implicated is another source of error.
evenly balanced (743 males versus 531 females), Failure by police stations to submit all NRAF to the
while approximately two thirds of pedestrians regional headquarters for capturing, seriously
involved in crashes were male (302males versus affects the reliability of the crash data, as forms
174 females). Although the actual number of not captured may well have included road
fatal injuries for drivers was higher than that of accidents with criminal investigations pending.
pedestrians (i.e. 116-68 respectively), comparing This means that the number of casualties could
percentages between the two groups, results be much higher. It should also be noted that
1These numbers include fatalities and serious injuries of drivers, passengers and pedestrians involved in pedestrian accidents.
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Road Accidents in Namibia: Statistical Report 2009
the consistent follow-up of seriously injured the areas of Kamanjab, Opuwo and
people admitted to hospital is not fully in place, Outapi. The development of the road
implying that the number of fatalities could infrastructure by local authorities in the
have been underreported. larger urban centres of those regions
should make provision for the safe
Of the 24,433 drivers who were involved in road
passage of all road users, especially for
accidents, merely 2,689 or 11.0 percent were
pedestrians and cyclists.
tested for alcohol intoxication, a decrease of 4
percent compared to 3,227 tested in 2008. This The proposed public transport service
poor performance extends also to the wearing will decrease the public’s use of
of seatbelts, where only about 10 percent of light delivery vehicles. (LDVs pose a
accident forms recorded seatbelt usage for persistent challenge, as is indicated
2,333 drivers out of total of 24,433, and for 147 by the high number of driver and
injured passengers out of a total of 1,594 (9.2 passenger casualties resulting from
percent). This data is entirely inadequate for accidents in them.)
planning strategies to curb drinking and driving
• Pedestrian accidents remain a concern
and to promote the wearing of seatbelts as an
as nearly half of the victims of collisions
essential safety measure.
with vehicles are under the age of 20
Amongst other contributing factors that have years. The introduction of compulsory
been identified on the NRAF are speeding (as road safety education for lower primary
indicated by the vehicles’ skid mark lengths), schools and the organising of extensive
defective vehicles and inadequate visibility. In public campaigns that raise awareness
addition, driver behaviour such as the driver’s regarding pedestrian safety and
lack of awareness of and compliance with responsibilities are recommended.
traffic rules and driver fatigue also featured as
• Accidents with cyclists have risen
major risk factors. However, the NRAF does
sharply over the past two years.
not collect data on these causes.
Measures that could prevent this
The proposed remedial measures intended rising trend in cyclist crashes include
to prevent and reduce road accidents are the information campaigns to sensitise
following: drivers to the presence of cyclists on
the road, promoting the usage of safe
• Promote public transport usage by the
helmets, and the construction of safe
public to ease the burden of increased
passageways for cyclists in urban areas
traffic volume across the national road
and on open roads.
network. Traffic congestion, as a result
of rapid urbanisation, is experienced in • It is recommended that future reports
Khomas, Erongo and Oshana. Although should complement the road accident
there are increased numbers of bus statistics derived from the NRAF with
services in these regions, there are statistics from other stakeholders to
limited bus services in the North West produce one comprehensive report.
where rapid urbanisation has recently
• A proposal for future research into areas
been experienced and also where the
of concern raised by the analysis of the
road infrastructure on national roads
accident data should be developed.
has been improved, particularly in
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Road Accidents in Namibia: Statistical Report 2009
INTRODUCTION
With the level of motorisation expected to vehicles. The NRSC, established under the
rapidly increase over the next decade, the National Road Safety Act (Act 9 of 1972), is
benefits of such development are challenged tasked with the responsibility to promote road
by a related escalation in traffic injury related safety and disseminate road safety information
costs such as providing hospital care and to all concerned parties.
rehabilitation services. Besides this direct drain
For the year under review, the NRSC captured
on the nation’s economy, the devastating loss
data related to 15,537 road crash cases. Head-
or serious injury of a family member places
rear-end crashes were the most frequently
considerable financial, social and emotional
occurring road accidents in 2009, followed by
strain on the affected families. Awareness
collisions with animals and fixed objects, as
of the negative economic and social impact
well as sideswipe crashes between vehicles
of road crashes has triggered global efforts
moving in the same direction. Although these
to deal with the current critical road safety
accidents constituted the majority in terms
situation and has guided coordinated global
of numbers, accidents that were the most
efforts towards substantive reduction of road
devastating in terms of severity were single
crashes. Efforts are being focused on public
vehicle overturns, collisions with pedestrians
awareness campaigns and improved traffic law
and head-on crashes. Amongst the suspected
enforcement.
causes of these accidents are reckless and
It is in this spirit that the NRSC has undertaken drunk driving, speeding, driver fatigue,
to collate road crashes in the country and unsafe roads and unsafe vehicle conditions.
analyse this data in order to identify the At present, these factors are not reflected in
necessary remedial interventions to improve the analysis, partly because data on these
the situation. As part of this effort, the NRSC such as driver fatigue and reckless driving is
has produced separate reports on the road not being collected. However, a more detailed
safety situation since 2005. This statistical analysis, which includes factors that have
report gives an account of accidents that took been recorded on the NRAF, is feasible and it
place on the national road network in 2009. is proposed that these should be incorporated
into future accident reports. Determining the
Road crashes are reported to the Namibian
contribution of these circumstances to the
Police in accordance with the Road Traffic and
accident event will assist in the planning of
Transportation Act (Act 22 of 1999), while the
mitigating interventions.
Roads Authority manages the traffic counts
on national roads to determine the Vehicle It is indisputable that inaccurate and
Kilometres Travelled (VKT) on the road network incomplete reporting by the police and/
and also provides the number of registered or drivers compromises the reliability of
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Road Accidents in Namibia: Statistical Report 2009