2012 Data analysed: 2015 Report published: Feb 2016 1. FOREWORD It is my pleasure to present our statistical road collision report, based on the analysis of collision forms 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 author- itative reference 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 members who be- come disabled as a result of injuries sustained in road traffic accidents. In 2012, Namibia recorded over 17 000 vehicle crashes, about 4 000 injuries and 400 deaths. Most of the drivers and passengers injured, disabled or killed were in the age range between 15 and 59 years, while pedestrians were aged between 5 and 44 years. Furnished with accurate statistical data, stakeholders in road safety should be able to make informed decisions on road safety man- agement such as enforcement of legislation to control speed, drunken driving, use of seat belts, wearing of helmets as well as driver and vehicle fitness. The number of road accidents during the period under review has increased in comparison to the previous year. The Khomas Region had the largest number of crashes followed by Erongo, Oshana, Otjozondjupa, Kavango East and Kavango West. It seems logical that the chances of a road accident are higher in areas with larger volumes of traffic. This kind of situation 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 creating a safe road environment. Significant challenges were experienced during the data gathering process. These included the problem of incom- plete reporting of crash reports. Deficiencies such as a lack of proper record keeping, inadequate training, and lack of understanding of the importance of crash reports became profoundly evident. Nevertheless the unreliable data was taken into account for the analysis and the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) is confident that this report fairly represents the situation on the ground. In conclusion, I would like to advise the reader that corrective measures were undertaken to compensate for under- reporting. Fatalities have been adjusted to the 30 day definition, as recommended in the Global Road Safety Status Report (2009), by applying a standardised 1.3 fatality adjustment factor to the actual number. Finally, on behalf of the 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 to their regional headquarters in time for data captur- ing. 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. Eliphas !Owos-oab, Chairman, National Road Safety Council Statistical Report 2012 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword......................................................................................................................................................................................1 List of figures............................................................................................................................................................................ 2 List of tables..............................................................................................................................................................................4 Executive Summary...........................................................................................................................................................6 Introduction............................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Data Collection Method.................................................................................................................................................9 Road Traffic Indicators...................................................................................................................................................... 10 Road Traffic Injuries............................................................................................................................................................. 24 Injury Severity by Road User Groups ..................................................................................................................31 Performance Indicators.................................................................................................................................................. 43 Conclusions and Recommendations................................................................................................................. 53 APPENDICES APPENDIX I: Country of Origin and Severity of Injury of Drivers.............................................5 5 APPENDIX II: Pedestrian Crash Location......................................................................................................5 7 APPENDIX III: Crash Location and Injury Severity (outside town/city)................................ 71 APPENDIX IV: Street Location by Town and Injury Severity ..........................................................76 APPENDIX V: Number of Casualties by Police Station and Regions....................................1 07 LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1: Fatalities/10 000 people, 2002-2012 .............................................................................11 Figure 2: Fatalities/100 000 people, 2002-2012..........................................................................1 2 Figure 3: Fatalities/10 000 vehicles, 2002-2012...........................................................................1 2 Figure 4: Fatalities/10 million VTK, 2002-2012..............................................................................12 Figure 5: Annual change in percentage increase/decrease in fatalities and casualties over the even year period (2002-2012).............................................. 13 Figure 6: Number of crashes, vehicles involved and injury crashes over eleven years (2002-2012)..........................................................................................................1.4 Figure 7: Severity of injury resulting from road crashes over eleven years (2002-2012).............................................................................................................................1 5 Figure 8: Road crashes by region.............................................................................................................1 7 Figure 9: Injury crashes and fatalities by region.......................................................................... 17 Figure 10: Regional distribution of road deaths per registered vehicles and population............................................................................................................1 7 Figure 11: Density of crashes per square kilometre....................................................................19 Figure 12: Regional distribution of population, area (in square kilometres) and number of crashes..............................................................................................................1 9 2 National Road Safety Council Foreword...................................................................................................................................................................................... Figure 13: Number of crashes by month..............................................................................................2. 2 List of figures............................................................................................................................................................................ Figure 14: Number of crashes by day of the week......................................................................22 List of tables.............................................................................................................................................................................. Figure 15: Number of crashes by time of the day........................................................................23 Executive Summary........................................................................................................................................................... Figure 16: Collision types by severity of injury: fatal, serious and slight...................2 5 Introduction............................................................................................................................................................................... Figure 17: Casualties among young people aged ≤25 years from 2009-2012....2 6 Data Collection Method................................................................................................................................................. Figure 18: Injury severity by month............................................................................................................2 7 Road Traffic Indicators...................................................................................................................................................... Figure 19: Injury severity by day of the week....................................................................................2 8 Road Traffic Injuries............................................................................................................................................................. Figure 20: Injury severity by time of the day......................................................................................2. 9 Injury Severity by Road User Groups .................................................................................................................. Figure 21: Number of crashes by time of the day and day of the week...................3 0 Performance Indicators.................................................................................................................................................. Figure 22: Injury severity by road user group (percentage)..................................................3 1 Conclusions and Recommendations................................................................................................................. Figure 23: Injury crashes of road usersby gender (percentage).......................................3 2 APPENDICES Figure 24 (a): Driver injury status by gender (numbers)...................................................................3 2 APPENDIX I: Country of Origin and Severity of Injury of Drivers............................................. Figure 24 (b): Driver injury status by gender (%)......................................................................................3 2 APPENDIX II: Pedestrian Crash Location...................................................................................................... Figure 25 (a): Passenger injury status by gender (numbers).......................................................3 3 APPENDIX III: Crash Location and Injury Severity (outside town/city)................................ Figure 25 (b): Passenger injury status by gender (%)..........................................................................3 3 APPENDIX IV: Street Location by Town and Injury Severity .......................................................... Figure 26 (a): Pedestrian injury status by gender (numbers).......................................................3 4 APPENDIX V: Number of Casualties by Police Station and Regions.................................... Figure 26 (b): Pedestrian injury status by gender (%)..........................................................................3 4 LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 27: Driver collisions by age category......................................................................................3 5 Figure 28: Collisions involving pedestrians by age category..............................................3 5 Figure 1: Fatalities/10 000 people, 2002-2012 ............................................................................. Figure 29: Collisions involving passengers by age category..............................................3 6 Figure 2: Fatalities/100 000 people, 2002-2012.......................................................................... Figure 30: Driver injury severity by age category...........................................................................3 6 Figure 3: Fatalities/10 000 vehicles, 2002-2012........................................................................... Figure 31: Passenger injury severity by age category...............................................................3 7 Figure 4: Fatalities/10 million VTK, 2002-2012.............................................................................. Figure 32: Pedestrian injury severity by age category..............................................................3. 7 Figure 5: Annual change in percentage increase/decrease in fatalities and casualties over the even year period (2002-2012).............................................. Figure 33: Driver casualties by selected vehicle types............................................................3 8 Figure 6: Number of crashes, vehicles involved and injury crashes over Figure 34: Cyclist injury severity....................................................................................................................3 9 eleven years (2002-2012)........................................................................................................... Figure 35: Passenger casualties by selected vehicle types................................................4 0 Figure 7: Severity of injury resulting from road crashes over eleven years (2002-2012)............................................................................................................................. Figure 36: Pedestrian casualties by selected vehicle types................................................4 2 Figure 8: Road crashes by region............................................................................................................. Figure 37: Selected driver actions by percentage of road user casualties............44 Figure 9: Injury crashes and fatalities by region.......................................................................... Figure 38: Collision percentage of drivers tested for alcohol use..................................4 4 Figure 10: Regional distribution of road deaths per registered Figure 39: Drivers and passengers who reported wearing seatbelts at vehicles and population............................................................................................................ time of crash.......................................................................................................................................4. 5 Figure 11: Density of crashes per square kilometre.................................................................... Figure 40: Pedestrians killed and injured by time of the day..............................................4 6 Figure 12: Regional distribution of population, area (in square kilometres) Figure 41: Position of pedestrian..................................................................................................................4 7 and number of crashes.............................................................................................................. Statistical Report 2012 3 Figure 42: Location of pedestrian................................................................................................................47 Figure 43: Action of pedestrian...................................................................................................................... 47 Figure 44: Top ten locations outside town/city sorted by percentage of injury crashes...................................................................................................................................... 50 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Variations in road safety conditions for the years 2002-2012 Road traffic indicators and levels of exposure to risk...................................... 10 Table 2: Annual change in number and outcome of crashes....................................... 13 Table 3: Rate variation of collisions by regional distribution 2012.............................. 16 Table 4: Crashes per square kilometre.............................................................................................. 18 Table 5: Crash type by region.................................................................................................................... 20 Table 6: Regional distribution of crash type by frequency (A)....................................... 21 Table 7: Crash type and severity of injury....................................................................................... 24 Table 8: Young people killed or injured, by road traffic crash type.......................... 25 Table 9: Crashes and injury severity by month........................................................................... 26 Table 10: Injury severity by day of the week.................................................................................... 27 Table 11: Injury severity by time of the day....................................................................................... 28 Table 12: Crashes by time and day of the week.......................................................................... 29 Table 13: Injury severity by road user group................................................................................... 31 Table 14: Injury crashes of road users by gender....................................................................... 31 Table 15: Driver injury severity by vehicle type .............................................................................38 Table 16: Driver injury severity...................................................................................................................... 39 Table 17: Passenger injury severity by vehicle type................................................................. 40 Table 18: Pedestrian injury severity by vehicle type................................................................. 41 Table 19: Driver action and road users injured or killed......................................................... 43 Table 20: Road users injured or killed by driver travelling straight, turning right or swerving.......................................................................................................... 43 Table 21: Pedestrian severity of injury by time of the day................................................... 46 Table 22: Pedestrian action by pedestrian location.................................................................. 48 Table 23: Damages to vehicles.................................................................................................................... 49 Table 24: Top ten crash locations and crash severity outside town/city............... 50 Table 25: Top crash locations outside town/city by number of pedestrians killed or injured.................................................................................................................................. 51 Table 26: Top ten street locations and crash severity inside town/city................... 51 Table 27: Top street locations inside town/city by number of pedestrians 52 killed or injured.................................................................................................................................. 4 National Road Safety Council LIST OF ACRONYMS GPS Global Positioning System LDV Light Delivery Vehicle LIST OF TABLES NRAF Namibian Road Accident Form NRSC National Road Safety Council VKT Vehicle Kilometres Travelled Statistical Report 2012 5 2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The National Road Safety Council (NRSC) is tasked with the capturing and processing the Namibia Road Accident Forms (NRAF) and the subsequent dissemination of the annual road crash statistics that portray the road safety situation in the country. The road accidents statistics contained in this report are based on the information derived from the NRAF. A road accident form is completed for each road accident reported at police stations countrywide. A total of 17,892 road crashes were registered at various police stations in Namibia and processed by the NRSC for 2012. Compared to the previous year, this presents an increase of 0.3 % in road crashes over 12 months. Over the span of 10 years the number of crashes has risen by 5.4 percent on average. This upward trend reflects a similar increase from 2003 to 2012 in the number of registered vehicles on the road (4.7 percent) and an overall growth (5.8 percent) in the number of vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT). The safety situation on Namibian roads is a little less unsafe, as demonstrated by the 5.04 % decrease in the number of injury crashes from 2011 (2,585) to 2012 (2,461). This is supported by a decrease of 11.8% (from 4,407 to 3,889) in the number of ca- sualties, i.e. the number of road users killed, and seriously or slightly injured over the same two years. The sharpest decrease (12.1%) was registered for the number of slight injuries (from 2,470 to 2,171). The number of fatally injured road users dropped by 5.9% (from 406 to 382), while serious injuries fell by 12.7% (1,531 to 1,336). Despite considerable fluctuation in the numbers of casualties from year to year, a general upward trend was identified over the 10 years from 2003–2012. However, when the increasing number of road crashes over those 10 years is taken into ac- count, the ratio of affected road users to the number of road crashes appears to have declined slightly. A regional distribution of the number of road crashes reveals that over half of all crashes occurred in the Khomas Region (8,378) followed by Erongo (2,274), Oshana (1,525), Otjozondjupa (1,159), and Oshikoto (775). These five regions also topped the list in 2008, albeit in a slightly different order with Oshana and Otjozondjupa changing places. The highest number of fatalities per 10 000 population was recorded in Erongo with 4 people in 10 000 being at risk of dying in a road accident (rate = 3.5). Other regions whose fatality rate was two or more people per 10 000 population were Otjozondjupa, Zambezi, Oshikoto, Kunene, Khomas and Kavango. A negative ratio between the number of registered vehicle and the number of fatalities per 1,000 vehicles was seen across the regions. For regions with a low vehicle density such as Ohangwena, Zambezi and Omusati, the number of road deaths per 1,000 registered vehicles was four or more. By contrast, in the regions with the highest vehicle density – Erongo, Khomas and Oshikoto – the number of road fatalities dropped to one person per 1,000 registered vehicles. A problem that presents itself with this road safety indicator is that an apparent decline in fatalities may in fact reflect the increase in the number of registered vehicles rather than real gains in saved lives. A possibly more objective mea- sure of exposure to risk is the number of Vehicle Kilometres travelled(VKT),i.e. a road traffic indicator measuring the number of fatalities per 10 million VKT. As in the previous two years, rear-end collisions were the most frequent type of road accident in 2012 (4,259). Colli- sions with animals (2,370) and collisions with fixed objects (1,697) ranked second and third. Among the accident types with particularly severe outcomes were single vehicles that overturned, resulting in the highest number of fatalities (137) and serious injuries (511); collisions with pedestrians (120 deaths and 296 serious injuries ); and head-on collisions (57 fatalities and 96 serious injuries). Regions where single vehicle overturns were among the most frequent accident types were Erongo, Khomas, Otjozondjupa,Hardap and Kunene, whereas Khomas, Oshana and Erongo recorded the highest number of pedestrians involved in road accidents. The number of road crashes per month did not vary much. Months with the highest number of crashes were July (1,693), August (1,597), March (1,582) and June (1,579) and those with the lowest number were January (1,265), Septem- ber (1,380) and October (1,396). Injury crashes were most prevalent in July (231) and June (229). Although the number of road accidents for December was surprisingly low, these crashes resulted in a significant number of casualties (315). Months with a high number of fatal accidents were July (48), March (46), September (42) and June (36). Friday and Monday were the days with the most road crashes (2,933 and 2,664 respectively), resulting in a high inci- dence of fatalities (104) and serious injuries (406). The highest number of fatalities (62) occurred between 18:01 and 20:00, while the preceding hours between 16:01 and 18:00 were also particularly unsafe (56 fatalities and 191 serious injuries). The safest time to be on the road was at night between 2:01 and 6:00. As in the previous years, considerably more male drivers (2,705) than female drivers (291)were involved in road injury crashes. The gender balance for passengers was more even (791 males compared to 512 females), while approx- 6 National Road Safety Council imately two thirds of pedestrians involved in injury crashes were male (420 males compared to 233 females). The number of fatal injuries was higher for drivers than pedestrians (105 and 90 respectively) and 6.2% of all drivers did not survive the crash compared to 13.6% of all pedestrians. This underlines the higher injury risk of pedestrians due to their exposure on the road. Over two thirds of driver casualties (1066) fell within the age category 30–59years, while 30% were below the age of 29. Almost half of the passenger casualties (45% or 431) were recorded for the age group 15-29 years. Unlike the age groups for drivers and passengers, 66% (374) of the pedestrian accident victims were under the age of 29, an alarm- ingly high rate. The highest number of driver fatalities (59) was recorded for crashes involving light delivery vehicles, closely followed by motor cars and station wagons (56). Both types of vehicles also accounted for the majority of serious and slight driver injuries. A marked increase from the previous year was seen in the number of fatal and serious injuries for sedan taxis and drivers of minibuses. The endeavour to produce reliable road accident statistics is negatively affected by the recurring problem of under- reporting of casualties. On the one hand, not all injury crashes may have been reported by the parties concerned. On the other hand,inaccurate and incomplete recording of the crash by police officers and/or drivers involved is another source of error in reports that were registered at police stations countrywide. Failure by police stations to submit all NRAF to the regional headquarters for capturing seriously affects the reliability of the crash data as uncaptured forms may well have included road crashes with criminal investigations pending, which means that the number of casual- ties could be much higher. It should also be noted that the follow-up on seriously injured people admitted to hospital is not consistent, implying that the number of fatalities may have been underreported. Of the 25,578 drivers that were involved in road accidents, only 5992(23.4%) were tested for alcohol intoxication. This represents an increase of alcohol intoxication tests compared to the previous year. This poor performance extends to the wearing of seatbelts: only about 2.5% of the crash forms recorded seatbelt use for 641 drivers out of a total of 25578. This data is entirely inadequate for planning strategies to curb drinking and driving and to promote the wearing of seatbelts as an essential safety measure. Speeding, as indicated by the vehicle’s skid mark length, as well as defective vehicles and inadequate visibility are among other contributory factors that have been identified on the NRAF. Driver behaviour such as awareness of and compliance with traffic regulations,or driver fatigue also feature as major risk factors. However, the NRAF does not collect data on these causes. The proposed remedial measures intended to prevent and reduce road crashes are the following: • Promote public transport use to ease the burden of increased traffic volumes across the national road network. Traffic congestion as a result of rapid urbanisation is experienced in Khomas, Erongo and Oshana. Bus services have increased in these regions, but they are limited in the north west where rapid urbanisation has been ex- perienced of late and where the national road infrastructure has also been improved, particularly in the areas of Kamanjab, Opuwo and Outapi. The development of the road infrastructure by the local authorities of the larger urban centres in those regions should make provision for the safety of all road users, especially pedestrians and cyclists. • The proposed public transport service will reduce the use of LDVs by the public. This type of passenger transpor- tation poses a persistent challenge as indicated by the high number of driver and passenger casualties resulting from crashes with LDVs. • Pedestrian crashes remain a concern as nearly half of the victims of collisions with vehicles are under the age of 29 years. It is recommended to introduce compulsory road safety education for lower primary schools and orga- nise extensive public campaigns that raise awareness of pedestrian safety and responsibilities. • Accidents involving cyclists have risen sharply over the past two years. Measures that could prevent this upward trend in cyclist crashes include information campaigns to sensitise drivers to the presence of cyclists on the road, promoting the use of safety helmets and the construction of safe passageways for cyclists in urban areas and on open roads. • It is recommended that future reports should complement the road crash statistics derived from the NRAF with statistics from other stakeholders to produce one comprehensive report. • A proposal should be developed for future research into areas of concern raised by the analysis of the crash data. Statistical Report 2012 7 3. INTRODUCTION With the level of motorisation expected to increase rapidly over the next decade, the benefits of such develop- ment are challenged by a corresponding escalation in traffic injury-related costs such as providing hospital care and rehabilitation services. Besides this direct drain on the nation’s economy, the devastating loss or serious injury of a family member places considerable financial, social and emotional strain on the affected families. Awareness of the negative economic and social impact of road crashes has triggered global efforts to deal with the current critical road safety situation and has guided coordinated global efforts towards substantive reduction of road accidents. Efforts are being focused on public awareness campaigns and improved traffic law enforcement. It is in this spirit that the NRSC has undertaken to collate and analyse road accident data in the country in order to identify the necessary remedial interventions to improve the situation. As part of this effort, the NRSC has produced separate reports on the road safety situation since 2005. This statistical report gives an account of traffic accidents that took place on the national road network in 2012. Road crashes are reported to the Namibian Police in accordance with the Road Traffic and Transportation Act (Act 22 of 1999), while the Roads Authority manages the traffic counts on national roads to determine the Vehicle Kilometres Travelled (VKT) on the road network and also provides the number of registered vehicles. The NRSC, established under the National Road Safety Act (Act 9 of 1972), is tasked with the responsibility to promote road safety and disseminate road safety information to all parties concerned. For the year under review, the NRSC captured data related to 17 892 road crash cases. Head-rear-end crashes were the most frequent road accidents, followed by collisions with fixed objects and collisions with animals as well as sideswipe crashes between vehicles moving in the same direction. Although these crashes constituted the majority in terms of numbers, accidents that were the most devastating in terms of severity were single vehicle overturn, collisions with pedestrians and head-on collisions. Among the suspected causes of these crashes are reckless and drunk driving, speeding, driver fatigue, unsafe roads and unsafe vehicle conditions. At present these factors are not reflected in the analysis, partly because data on these - such as driver fatigue and reckless driving - is not being collected. However, a more detailed analysis, which includes factors that have been recorded in the NRAF, is feasible and it is proposed that these should be incorporated into future accident reports. Determining the contributory role of these circumstances in the crash event will assist in the planning of mitigating interventions. It is indisputable that inaccurate and incomplete recording by the police and/or reporting by drivers compro- mises the reliability of the data. Although most of the information obtained from the accident forms seemed to be adequate, concerted efforts need to be undertaken by the police to produce more complete data on the accident location, age and gender of all road users involved, the number of passengers per vehicle, the severity of injury sustained by pedestrians and passengers, and especially on seatbelt compliance and alcohol testing. Since it is believed that buckling up can save lives and that driving under the influence of alcohol is a major cause of accidents in Namibia, it is not possible to determine whether either of these factors contributed to the crash. Supplementary data on the extent to which alcohol contributed to crashes can be obtained from the National Forensic Science Institute. 8 National Road Safety Council