According to current statistics, road accidents have been found to be one of the top major root causes of death across the Kenyan territory. According to the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), 1,912 people have died in road accidents since 1 January 2022. Kenya’s economy and healthcare services are severely hampered by road accidents. The initiatives taking place right now are sporadic, unorganized, and ineffective. In the month of September, over 40 road accidents were captured across the Kenyan territory, with a total of 50 fatalities.
The major Counties where these accidents occur include Nairobi, Nakuru, and Homa Bay. A major incident was captured on 26 September 2022, eight people were left dead and two others were seriously wounded after a commuter matatu collided head-on with a fuel tanker at Ngengu area along the Homa Bay-Kendu Bay Road.
Metropolitan and rural environments have very different collision characteristics: pedestrians are more likely to be killed in urban areas, while most fatalities on interstates through rural areas involve passengers. Road safety initiatives have had no quantifiable effect on lowering traffic accidents’ prevalence, frequency, or severity.
Unfortunately, we tend to hold inadequate roads, improper planning, and an increase in traffic accountable for the notable rise in road accidents over the years. Lives have been lost on these highways, however, NTSA extends the focus on human mistakes, while less concentration is placed on the authorities’ failure to prioritize the reparation of these roads.
Nevertheless, human mistakes, particularly with respect to drivers and pedestrians, also contribute to accidents on Kenyan roads. Impediments to road traffic injury prevention and control include ineffective coordination, inadequate resources, qualified personnel, and limited capacity to implement and monitor interventions.
The World Health Organization [WHO], the Kenyan Ministry of Health, the National Transport and Safety Authority, and Bloomberg Philanthropies launched a new national initiative in Kenya in May 2022 to reduce fatalities and serious injuries from traffic accidents by strengthening the laws, policies, and practices that have been shown to save lives. However, the effect of these measures is yet to be felt as road accident cases have continued to rise sporadically.
Conclusively, as the country’s NTSA strategically tries to ameliorate road safety, through current road rehabilitation measures, it is expedient to make precautionary plans to avoid falling victim to the numerous hazards regularly encountered on various highways. The best way to achieve this is to abide by existing road safety rules, so many accidents can be avoided. It costs literally nothing to follow the traffic rules and to be respectful to other people on the road.