The Namibia Economist - Windhoek drivers take one too many

Windhoek drivers take one too many

Written by Staff Reporters

Results from a City of Windhoek Drink Drive Survey released this week show that drivers in the capital are travelling with alcohol in their system during early morning and during the middle of the day. The survey was conducted for five weeks between December last year and January this year.

The City Police team that worked on the Drink Drive Survey

“This also coincides with high pedestrian movements for work and school journeys, putting the vulnerable road users at much risk. Drinking and driving is not just a problem in the evening and night, it appears to be as severe during the day,” according to the executive summary of the survey.
Windhoek City Police, the Global Road Safety Partnership Namibia and Namibia Breweries conducted the survey to assess the number of drivers in Windhoek that test positive for alcohol in their breathe while driving.
“The date shows that only a very small percentage of drivers in Windhoek know what the legal limit is for drink driving. It is also unlikely that they can relate this level to a specific volume of alcohol consumed,” the summary said.
Alcohol has often been identified as the major contributory factor to accidents in Namibia, although the reliability of the statistics have been questioned by the National Road Safety Council (NRSC).
While the study has been limited to Windhoek and conducted during the Christmas season, it does provide a methodology that can be applied in other regions around the country, the summary said.
Windhoek City Police, the Global Road Safety Partnership Namibia and Namibia Breweries proposed in the report that, as part of awareness education, a more practical way of illustrating alcohol intake by relating it to types and volume of alcohol consumed should be adopted.
“The message to drivers however should remain that drivers should not drink and drive,” the summary said.
Deputy Minister of Works and Transport, Paul Smit said during a ceremony to release the survey that the contribution of drunken pedestrians to accidents has not been ascertained in the country.
“Hospitals do not routinely record alcohol involvement and blood alcohol levels are not recorded in fatalities. In order to create a clearer picture of alcohol involvement in crashes hospitals should record both alcohol and injuries sustained,” Smit said.

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