Nairobi leading in deaths from road accidents

Nairobi county is leading in the number of road accidents that have occurred countrywide between January and September 2019, even though the number decreased compared to last year, a survey conducted by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has revealed.

The survey has also revealed that the number of people killed in road accidents in Kenya has gone up 16.1 percent in the last nine months compared to a similar period last year.

DEATHS

A total of 2,591 people have lost their lives on the roads compared to 2,219 who died by September 25, 2019

The NTSA report shows that pedestrians accounted for the highest number of those killed, with 1,005 deaths, followed by passengers at 524, while motorcyclists were third, with drivers coming fourth at 245.

The number of those seriously injured went up from 3,309 in 2018 to 4,825 in 2019, a 45 percent increase.

4,618 others have so far sustained slight injuries in road accidents this year compared to 3,771 by September 25 last year.

Private vehicles were involved in the most road accidents, accounting for 650 death followed by commercial ones with 573 deaths this year.

BLACK SPOTS

The report has also revealed that most of those who were killed this year were people between 20 and 39 years.

In Nakuru County Traffic Police Boss Rashid Ali, indicated that seven black spots have been identified along the Nairobi-Kisumu-Eldoret Highway.

The black spots increased from four to seven in 2018.

He listed them as Kinungi, Kikopey, St Mary’s, Free Area, Ngata, State House and Salgaa.

Ali however indicated that accident cases recorded at the notorious Salgaa stretch have reduced drastically in the past year due to road improvement.

The traffic police boss said by the end of September a total of 569 people in Nakuru lost their lives through road accidents compared to 466 who died last year.

BODA BODA

Boda Boda passengers’ death have also increased by 34.8 percent compared to last year.

By September 25, 2019, 248 boda boda passengers had died, compared to 184 who lost their lives by the same time last year.

NTSA has blamed majority of the crashes to road user behaviour, which they say contribute to 98 percent of the causes.

These causes include speeding, drunk driving, poor road conditions and lack of proper road signs have aggravated the situation.

Other accidents have been caused by fatigued drivers, inexperienced motorists, poor visibility – especially at night – and bad road conditions.

NTSA has recommended that drivers who violate traffic laws and regulation should have their driving licenses suspended, retrained and rested before their get back their documents.