- The road safety needs of pedestrians and wheelchair users are similar though not entirely the same, but the risks of getting hurt are way higher for the latter group
- If we ignore the plight of persons with disabilities, we ignore ourselves
Last week, Christopher Nderitu was hit and killed by three vehicles near his home in Karundas, Nyeri county. He was on his wheelchair. Nderitu, who had bounced back from an accident a decade ago that left him unable to walk, owned an electronics shop outside his home.
His case is a stark reminder of the need to promote road safety for all road users, including people living with disabilities. The call to match the needs of non-motorised roads users and development ambitions has been growing louder for a long time now. Infrastructural projects largely prioritise motorists.
Data from the National Transport Safety Authority shows that one in every three people who die in road crashes is a pedestrian, with 1,108 pedestrians perishing as at October 31 last year out of a total 3,114 road deaths.
The road safety needs of pedestrians and wheelchair users are similar though not entirely the same, but the risks of getting hurt are way higher for the latter group. For example, it’s worth noting that the person who was with Nderitu at the time of the crash managed to jump out of the way of the oncoming car.
A study done in five countries including Kenya, by Humanity and Inclusion, an organisation that supports persons living with disabilities and other vulnerable populations, found that “people with disabilities usually struggle to get to their local stop and onto buses, particularly with wheelchairs.”
You must have seen them, wheeling along busy roads to town side by side with the speeding traffic. Some choose to set up their businesses near their places of residence, while others immerse themselves in the hustle and bustle of the city streets. Their businesses are largely small-scale, mostly hawking, a glaring representation of the high rates of poverty among persons with disabilities due to unbalanced access to economic opportunities.
That is why it is crucial to have our roads developed on the principles of universal design and in a way that promotes safe accessibility for persons with disability. This can be through setting up ramps and well-mounted pavements.
Once they are done for the day, they prepare to head back home. Since our public transport system has a long way to go in becoming disability friendly, most opt to wheel themselves back home. Pedestrian walks in our urban areas are crowded and boda bodas bullet from nowhere, making it difficult for people on wheelchairs to use them.
In fact, they end up wheeling on the main road, silently praying that motorists will not crash them. People with disabilities also experience inequity in healthcare provision and getting insurance cover
That is why it is crucial to have our roads developed on the principles of universal design and in a way that promotes safe accessibility for persons with disability. This can be through setting up ramps and well-mounted pavements. The Nairobi Metropolitan Services has done a commendable job upgrading pavements within the CBD that are safe and spacious for wheelchair users. This needs to be extended to other areas of the city and countrywide.
This plea is not new. It’s as old as truth itself, from the moral convictions that all men are created equal and deserve the right to equal access to opportunities, safety and happiness. Kenya has made strides in the right direction, from gradually changing hearts about the role of persons with disabilities, to establishing frameworks such as the Persons with Disabilities Act of 2003, all in a bid to increase access to employment, services, information and facilities.
But stories such as Nderitu’s and others untold show that the road is long, and there’s a lot to be done to make equal access to safe movement for disabled and non-disabled a reality.
There are about a million disabled Kenyans, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, with the largest form of disability being mobility. This group is such a huge part of us to ignore. If we ignore the plight of persons with disabilities, we ignore ourselves. Our drive ought not to be just a plain call for inclusion, but because it is the right thing to do.
The National Council of Persons with Disabilities, established through the aforementioned Act, will be working with all relevant shareholders to ensure our roads are safe for those with disabilities.
Executive director, National Council for Persons with Disabilities