Mombasa and Outering Roads continue to lead in the number of road fatalities in Nairobi even as the capital leads in the number of deaths countrywide.
According to the latest report from National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), Nairobi recorded 275 deaths between January 1 and August 19, 2019.
BLACK SPOTS
Out of this, Mombasa Road accounted for 27 deaths, Outering Road 23 followed by Waiyaki Way and Thika Super Highway both at 18, Kangundo Road with 16, Jogoo Road and Eastern Bypass with 12 and Juja Road with 10 deaths.
Other major roads in the capital recorded less than 10 deaths during the period under review with Northern bypass, Nairobi-Malindi, Mwiki-Kasarani, Lang’ata and Enterprise Roads with three deaths.
Murang’a Road, Southern bypass, Ngong and Forest Roads recorded four deaths while Kiambu Road had five, Northern bypass six and North Airport Road recording nine fatalities.
Last year, 273 black spots across the country were identified by NTSA, 199 of them being in the Northern Corridor and 74 in Nairobi alone.
Private vehicles lead in causing the deaths with 73 involved in the crashes so far.
This is followed by unknown vehicles at 64, Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) at 56, commercial vehicles 42, motor cycles 33, government vehicles at 2, the same as pedal cycles while only a single tuk tuk and handcart have been involved in any fatalities since January.
PEDESTRIAN FATALITIES
Out of the 274 fatalities recorded in Nairobi, pedestrians continued to lead the way recording 163 deaths followed by motorcyclists at 48, passengers 34, drivers at 15, pillion (motorcycle) passengers at 11 and lastly pedal cyclists with only three recorded deaths.
Other counties with high numbers of road fatalities include Kiambu with 183 deaths, Machakos 141, Nakuru 134 and Makueni 87, Murang’a 82, Kericho 74 and Nyeri 72.
At the bottom of the list is Embu County with 39 road fatalities, Narok and Siaya both with 42, Kitui at 45, Nyandarua with 46 road crashes and Kisii and Kilifi with 48.
Only Kisumu, Narok, Kilifi and Nyandarua recorded less deaths in the period compared to a similar one last year.
Nationally, 2,181 deaths have been recorded so far representing an increase of 276 compared to the same period last year.
Pedestrians continue to be majority of the fatalities with 839 which is an increase compared to 727 recorded during the same period last year.
The same increase was posted by motorcyclists which was from 515 during the same period last year to 641.
PASSENGERS’ DEATH TOLL
A total of 450 passengers have lost their lives on Kenyan roads across the country, an increase from last year’s 433; 204 drivers from 193 last year and 47 pedal cyclists from 37 in the same period last year.
Motorcyclists’ deaths recorded the biggest increase of 126 despite government’s efforts to streamline the sector after concerns were raised by accidents involving boda boda operators.
The then NTSA director for Road Safety Njeri Waithaka said in February that the authority had developed regulations to guide the sector which among other things will make it an offense to carry more than one pillion passenger, headlights to be on at all times and the operators to join associations in order to help in streamlining their operations.
Further, the report states that private vehicles, commercial vehicles and motor cycles lead in the type of means of transport involved in crashes in the country.
Privately owned vehicles lead with 575 fatalities since January, commercial followed with 504 and motorcycle with 439.
The report further highlighted that a total of 346 Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) have been involved in accidents so far, 286 unknown vehicles, 14 government vehicles, five tuk tuks, four handcarts and two pedal cycles.
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