In an effort to reduce road carnage, the National Transport and Safety Authority has partnered with six counties recording the highest road accident fatalities.
They are Makueni, Nairobi, Nakuru, Kericho, Kisumu, and Kakamega counties.
This comes after the government launched a road safety campaign dubbed ‘Usalama barabarani’ on October 28 in partnership with the European Union (EU) to reduce road accidents.
In a statement, NTSA’s Director-General George Njao says working with partners, continues to play its role in ensuring the reduction of road traffic crashes through a number of interventions.
“It is clear that this emerging challenge to our economic and social development. We lose an estimated 3,000 lives annually as a result of road traffic crashes. The majority of the deaths on Kenyan roads are preventable,” he said.
The project will work with the respective county transport and safety committees to realize its objectives.
The initiative was officially launched on Monday at Wote County offices where he was accompanied by Governor Kivutha Kibwana and county officials in charge of the transport and road safety stakeholders.
On Tuesday, the director-general and his team met Kisumu Governor Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o to launch the Nyanza region chapter, then head to Kisumu and conclude the campaign in Nakuru on Wednesday
Nairobi, Kiambu, Nakuru, Machakos, and Makueni are among the deadliest places to drive.
Deaths from road accidents have been predicted to be the fifth-biggest killer by 2030.
According to NTSA, there were 3,337 fatalities in 2018-19, compared with 3,567 in 2019-20, a difference of 230.
In 2018-19, 5,687 were seriously injured as compared to 7,158 in 2019-20, a difference of 1,471.
Those slightly injured in 2018-19 were 4,923 and a further 4,955 in 2019-20.
In 2018-19, 1,250 pedestrians died as compared with 1,376 in 2019-020, a difference of 126.
Some 786 passengers perished in 2018-19 compared with 565 in 2019-20.
Some 633 motorcyclists perished in 2018-19 compared with 875 in 2019-20, a difference of 242.
About 280 pillion passengers perished in 2018-19 as compared with 373 in 2019-2020, a difference of 93.
About 68.5 per cent of fatalities occur from 5 pm to 8 pm while 31.5 per cent of fatalities occur from 8 am to about 5 pm.
