Better safety through traffic system
The National Road Safety Council (NRSC) has spent N$1.1 million on corridor management facilities in Namibia.This includes N$500 000 for the Trans Kalahari Corridor (TKC), NRSC Chairman Eliphas !Owos-Oab said at the TKC Secretariat gala dinner held in Swakopmund earlier this week as part of the Secretariat's 20th anniversary celebrations.
The Secretariat celebrated its 20th anniversary with a bicycle tour from Rustenburg, South Africa, through Botswana to Walvis Bay. Thirty cyclists from Namibia, Botswana and South Africa took part, which ended at Walvis Bay Harbour on Monday.
“The International Road Assessment Program estimates that 50 per cent of accidents occur on about 10 per cent of the road network. So if we can make this 10 per cent of the road network safer, we would achieve a 50 per cent reduction in accident victims,” Owos-Oab said.
He added that the local municipality invested in the Arandis Emergency Response and Traffic Management Centre, which operates an intelligent traffic system to monitor a stretch of almost 50 km along the B2 near Arandis. The aim is to facilitate the implementation of intelligent transport system solutions to improve the efficiency and usability of the corridor while reducing the number of traffic accidents and incidents.
“When fully implemented, this system will, among other things, support early warning and detection systems for road users in the event of accidents and lead to safer mobility in the corridor,” Owos-Oab said.