The spectre of fatal road crashes is rearing its ugly head again.
Quite sad is the news of the death of the Zambian High Commissioner, who on Wednesday succumbed to injuries suffered in an accident on Mombasa Road last month.
In the past week, several grisly crashes have claimed nearly 10 lives. On the evening of Tuesday last week, four people died in a collision involving a matatu and two motorcycles in Bomet County.
Another three people perished in a multiple motor vehicle crash on the Kisumu-Kakamega road last Friday.
SPEEDING
And at the weekend, two people died when a matatu rammed a stationary lorry on the Nakuru-Eldoret highway, which has become notorious for deadly crashes.
Human error, especially speeding, has been fingered as one of the major causes.
The World Health Organisation estimates that Kenya loses five percent of its gross domestic product, or nearly Sh388 billion, in road traffic accidents.
The global average is three percent. According to the National Transport and Safety Authority, nearly 3,000 people are thus killed annually.
Since the beginning of the year, 235 pedestrians were among the 630 casualties. On February 17, nearly 10 people perished in a bus and truck collision and, on December 31, more than 30 passengers died in a bus crash.
TRAFFIC RULES
This calls for serious action to stem the losses by getting the NTSA and traffic police to strictly enforce traffic rules and regulations.
Speeding, reckless driving and overtaking are some of the key causes of the crashes.
But the police and NTSA alone cannot monitor every stretch of road countrywide to ensure compliance.
Motorists and passengers, too, must play a role in this — the former through obeying the rules to enhance a safety culture and the latter by speaking out or protesting to stop the dangerous antics of some drivers.
SOURCE: nation.co.ke
