Over 80 per cent of those who have died in road accidents this year are men, says the country’s road safety authority.
According to the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), 3,123 people were killed in road accidents from January to November, compared to 2,743 in a similar period last year.
That is an increase of 380.The authority says of those who had died up to October, 2,263 or 83.3 per cent were men, while 459 or 16.7 per cent were women.
This year, 5,909 people have been seriously injured compared to 4,098 the same period last year, an increase of 1,811.
NTSA says most victims were pedestrians at 1,206, followed by motorcyclists at 640, passengers (621) and drivers (298). As at November last year, 1,040 pedestrians, 269 drivers, 658 passengers and 509 motorcyclists had died in road accidents.
More than 1,111 pedestrians have been seriously injured in the last 11 months compared to 734 in 2018, while 1,154 motorcyclists are nursing wounds from accidents since January compared to 601 last year.
Private cars led in accidents followed by commercial vehicles, motorcycles, public service vehicles, unknown ones, government and tuk tuk, respectively.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i said the figures are high despite the campaigns mounted to curb road accidents. “The economic cost of road crashes is three to five per cent of our Gross Domestic Product or Sh300 billion annually,” he said.
He said road accidents are the highest contributors to disability, health burden and poverty (through loss of bread winners). About 3,000 deaths from road crashes occur annually, with about 40 per cent of victims being pedestrians.
A study by NTSA has shown most accidents happen on Sundays and Saturdays followed by Fridays, Mondays, Wednesdays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Sundays lead
On Sundays, some 497 people have been killed compared to 480 on Saturdays and 406 on Fridays.
Nairobi, Kiambu, Machakos, Nakuru, Kakamega, Makueni and Murang’a lead in the number of accidents.
Migori, Baringo, Taita Taveta, Uasin Gishu, Bomet and Homa Bay had the least number of accidents.
This year, 337 people have died in Nairobi, 233 in Kiambu, 181 in Nakuru, Machakos in 168, 105 in Murang’a and 102 in Makueni.
Most victims who died were between 20 and 44. The least affected age group was 70 and above.
The number of those who died in accidents this year aged between 30 and 34 were 298, while those between 25 and 29 were 298 and between 35 and 39 were 270.
The report adds that 69 per cent of accidents occurred between 5pm and 7.59am while 31 per cent of the accidents occurred during the day.The authority said “road user behaviour” caused 98 per cent of road crashes.
Other causes include driver user behaviour, motor vehicle related issues (approximately 160,000 vehicles have expired inspections) and road infrastructure issues.
Hit-and-run incidents have caused 925 deaths this year, loss of control of the vehicle 415, overtaking improperly 225 and misjudging clearance 140.Speeding caused 120 deaths while brake failure caused 22 deaths.
NTSA wants licences of drivers who violate traffic laws revoked. Such drivers, the authority says, should be retrained and retested before they are allowed back on the road.
SOURCE: standardmedia.co.ke
