The Namibian government seeks to regulate driving schools in the country, citing unregulated driving schools as a major contributing factor to the high rate of accidents on the county’s roads.
The transport ministry hinted at plans to regulate the driving schools as part of concerted efforts to reduce road carnage on the roads.
“We have to deal with unregulated driving schools. Anybody can put up a driving school under a tree. We need to change drivers’ attitudes and mindsets,” transport deputy minister Sankwasa James Sankwasa said during the handover ceremony of the 2016 Namibian Transport Policy documents in Windhoek.
Director of transportation policy and regulations Cedric Limbo said road safety in the country is not managed in a coordinated manner, leading to insufficient law enforcement and isolated and fragmented efforts to reduce the fatality and accident rates in Namibia.
“The Ministry of Works and Transport has consequently adopted a policy of integrated road traffic safety management and developed it to encompass all aspects of roads, even the roads management system as currently employed by the Roads Authority in relation to the road network,” said Limbo.
This will be a new transport policy, which after adoption by Cabinet will be tabled in parliament.
The new road bill could be amended to require that new road designs make provision for non-motorised transport.
