Intercounty competition on road safety is needed if accidents are to be curbed in Kenya, a report has found.
The report by Overseas Development Institute and WRI Ross Centre for Sustainable Cities noted that with the introduction of devolution, county competition should be highly encouraged to curb accidents.
The report is part of a broader project analysing urban road safety by the ODI and the World Resources Institute, with support from the FIA Foundation.
Nairobi has a population of 4 million and reports 11 road-related fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants.
Vulnerable users make up more than 90 per cent of fatalities.
A motorcyclist tries to save a victim of motorcycle road accident in Kisumu town. Police have blamed politicians for escalating road accidents in Nyanza.
According to the report, organisations such as the World Bank and the World Health Organisation could work with NTSA in this initiative.
"...to develop indicators for measuring the quality of county-level road safety policies and outcomes," the report released on March 23 read.
The report noted that the scores could be used to rank counties on their performance and be publicized in the media to shame the losers.
Dubbed "At the crossroads: the politics of road safety in Nairobi", the report highlights how more than half of road deaths occur on the new high-speed highways while pedestrians and motorcyclists are the most likely to be affected.
Kenya loses an average of 3,000 lives through road accidents annually, placing it among countries with the highest road carnage globally.
668 people were killed in traffic collisions in Nairobi in 2015, 74 per cent were pedestrians. In 2016, 65 per cent of the 461 killed were pedestrians.
The report warns that there is very little investment in walking and cycling infrastructure with only 20 per cent of roads having pavements.
Related: 2017: The year of high number of road crashes
Also read: Kenya's road accidents headache: Why quick solutions must be found
POLITICIANS MUST PROVIDE SAFETY
The report warns a lack of consideration for road safety among politicians, developers and investors which is putting the lives of hundreds of pedestrians at risk each year.
According to the report, politicians focus on large-scale, car-oriented projects that generate short-term political rewards.
"People use cars every day, yet road and pedestrian safety remains a low priority," Study author Clare Cummings said.
She said wealthier residents can often afford to travel by car but poorer people rely on public transport or walk.
"... meaning they are at most risk of being killed or seriously injured in a collision," she said.
Cummings said politicians and policymakers gain popularity with car owners and construction companies by building superhighways through Nairobi.
But she noted that often leads to an increase in the number of pedestrian road deaths.
Read: KeNHA starts construction of four footbridges along Thika road
Also read: Ten new footbridges to reduce deaths on Thika Superhighway
SYSTEM FAILURE?
Executive Director of the FIA Foundation Saul Billingsley said road traffic deaths and injuries are not ”accidents”.
"They are the direct consequence of system failures and political choices, for example building high-speed urban highways through local communities," he said.
According to the report, if Kenya is to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals politicians must start listening to and providing safe mobility for the majority of the people: who walk, cycle and use public transport.’
The report noted that despite high death rates, the demand for better road safety is low as it is considered a personal responsibility.
"People blame those affected for causing collisions. They don’t see the underlying problems with city planning and poor public transport," the report read.
Associate at WRI Ross Centre Anna Sharpin said: "While congestion is a common frustration for Nairobi residents, building more roads does not address the problem of increasing private car use."
Sharpin said better public transport and safe infrastructure for people walking and biking on existing roads would reduce the need to travel by car, making Nairobi roads less frenetic and improving safety for everyone.
Researchers found that while road safety has gained more prominence in policy and regulation in Kenya, it is often poorly enforced and overlooks underlying causes of road collisions, such as the increasing number of private vehicles on the road, low investment in public transport, and the lack of safe road space for vulnerable road users.
An accident scene.
SOLUTIONS
The report offers four recommendations to improve road safety in Nairobi.
They include; Undertake legally-binding road safety assessments on all proposed road projects, work with those developing Nairobi’s Bus Rapid Transit system to integrate road safety into the redesign of major city roads.
The report conducted semi-structured interviews with 22 key informants from relevant government agencies and people affected by road safety in the city.
The data collected was analysed using a matrix to compare and triangulate different attitudes and perceptions in road safety.
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