Windhoek — The National Road Safety Council announced this week that it would be manning road blocks across the country this festive season. The Council said it wants to promote safety on the roads and create awareness around the rules of the road.

The Council said its Easter Weekend campaign assisted in keeping the accidents and death tolls to a minimum.

The Council's executive secretary, Eugene Tendekule, said the presence at roadblocks is a pro-active move to ensure that road users are reminded of their responsibilities and the dangers associated with driving.

According to figures released by the Council on 1 December, annually the country experience fatalities in the range of 300 of our population to accidents, whereas a further 2000 of those involve are disabled or paralysed.

"Many family members are left behind destitute when a breadwinner falls victim to a road accident. Thus road accidents remain one of the leading causes of death in Namibia together with malaria and HIV/AIDS," the Council said.

The Council said it responds to the great need of road crash victims for public recognition of their loss and pain, and to remind road users to drive responsibly in order to prevent further accidents.

"Apart from paying tribute to the many people lost on our roads, a petition for safer roads was also handed over to government. During a period of just four days, thousands of signatures and sms responses were received in a plight for government to address road safety as a national concern," the Council said.

As much as Namibia boast of a relatively good road infrastructure, much still needs to be done to ensure that safety becomes the main motivating factor that informs the prescribed road design and maintenance standards, road usage and certification for vehicle and driver fitness.

The initiative of the Council is an extension of the recently launched Namibian Road Safety Strategy that is aimed at achieving Safer Roads, Safer People and Safer Vehicles.