THE National Road Safety Council (NRSC) donated over equipment worth N$151 000 to the Namibian Police to help them cope with heavier road traffic during the festive season.

The equipment will also be used to train data capturers in the road-safety campaign known as ‘Ethimbo’.

Up to 100 cars per hour have been recorded by the police at roadblocks since Friday as people drove to and from Windhoek for the long weekend.

The equipment includes road signs, breathalysers and temporary speed humps.

Eugene Tendukele, the executive secretary of the NRSC, said the equipment would help the police to curb speeding and smuggling, and to spot unfit drivers, unroadworthy cars, falsified documents and stolen cars.

“The Namibian Police already have people on the ground monitoring two notorious roads. These are the Okahandja road to Otavi as well as the Okahandja road to Swakopmund,” said Tendukele. He added that police had made several arrests over the weekend.

He further urged truck drivers to be considerate towards the drivers of smaller vehicle on the main roads.

“We plead with truck drivers to give as much space as possible between each other, in order to avoid a traffic pile-up which can lead to unnecessary overtaking of more than one vehicle and result in head-on collisions,” he said.

Commissioner Bennie Shikongo-Shikovelo received the donation on behalf of the Inspector General of the Namibian Police. Deputy Commissioner Joseph Shikongo and Commissioner Ralph Ludwig also attended the handover.