NAMIBIA, Windhoek – November 26, 2018. FedEx Express, the world’s largest express transportation company and a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) together with Amend, an International NGO, and the Private Sector Road Safety Forum, a local NGO, have today launched a road safety program that provides signage for 30km per hour speed limits around schools, and advocates for the adoption of legislation to support this reduced speed limit around all schools in Windhoek.
The World Health Organization estimates that more than 1.2 million people die on the world’s roads every year[1]. Among the most vulnerable road users in Namibia are child pedestrians, who face grave risks walking to and from school every day.
Further research shows that a child in Africa is twice as likely to die on the roads compared to a child in any other region of the world.[2]
The 30km per hour limit is an internationally recommended maximum speed limit. This limit is permissible where there are a number of vehicles and pedestrians using the same road; the risk of death or serious injury to pedestrians in the case of a collision increases exponentially when drivers travel at speeds above 30 km/h.
Road Safety partners across Namibia have worked tirelessly to implement 30km per hour zones around Olaf Palmer Primary School and nine other schools in Windhoek. In addition, these road safety organizations are advocating for regulation change to support these reduced speed limit zones at all schools in the city.
“At FedEx, we are committed to protecting children on the road. Child pedestrian awareness is a crucial part of road safety education and essential in enhancing the safety of scholars at their schools. FedEx holds safety above all in everything we do, which is why we have a longstanding collaboration with Amend with the goal of creating safer pedestrian communities for children globally,” said Mike Higley, vice president of FedEx Express Southern Africa. “We’re proud to work with organizations like Amend and the Private Sector Road Safety Forum, to apply our expertise and resources to help reduce the number of injuries and fatalities on the world’s roads.”
Hon. Laura McLoed KatjiRua, Khomas Regional Governor said “Every child has a right to travel to and from school without the fear of being hit by a vehicle. For this reason, I would like to once again congratulate the partners of this project, in particular FedEx, Amend, and the Private Sector Road Safety Forum, in committing their resources to make the road to school safe for our children.
[1]http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs358/en/
[2]https://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyamohn/2017/02/19/school-children-in-africa-to-benefit-from-1-75-million-usd-for-road-safety/#235a79f94864