Road Traffic Deaths

- 200,000
- Who dies most
- Twin peaks
- Weekend danger
- Holiday travel
- Motorcycles

- # 200,000

  During the 10 years to 2014, the Kenya Police Service recorded more than 200,000 road traffic casualties. More than 30,991 people lost their lives, 82,321 were seriously injured and 86,688 slightly injured.

  One in 50 deaths in Kenya is caused by road traffic accidents. Road crash deaths have climbed from being the ninth leading cause of death in 2010 to the seventh in 2014, overtaking meningitis, according to data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

  Road traffic deaths increased by 21 per cent from 2010 to 2014, outpacing all other top ten causes of deaths, while deaths from four of the top ten killers decreased over this time.

  Most of the road crash casualties are productive young adults in the prime of life. A person aged between 30 and 34 is six times as likely to die in a road accident as a person aged 10-14.

  While the price paid by the victims and their families is immeasurable, the annual cost to the economy for 2014 was about Sh310 billion or five per cent of Kenya’s Gross Domestic Product. Dr Duncan Kibogong, Deputy Director, Safety Strategies & County Committees says the amount is expected to rise over time.

- # Who dies most

  Men are three times more likely than women to die in a road crash. Higher deaths among men are partly due to more exposure.

  One in eight people who died in a road collision in the first 10 months of 2015 were aged between 30 and 34. The second most vulnerable age-group is 25-29.

- # Twin peaks

  Most fatal road traffic crashes occur between 6 pm and 11pm, with the peak time being around 9 pm. There are also spikes in road crash deaths around 6am and 7pm, especially in Nairobi., especially in Nairobi.

  Reasons include reduced enforcement during these times and high speeds. During these times motorcycles operate in the dark without correct gear, such as reflective jackets, hence they are not seen by fast-flowing traffic. Pedestrians also cross at non-designated areas and easily get knocked by speeding vehicles.

  Driving, riding and walking while drunk are also major contributors, says Dr Duncan Kibogong, Deputy Director, and Safety Strategies & County Committees.

- # Weekend danger

  Fatal road crashes increase sharply as the weekend nears. From January 1 to October 18 2015, more people died in traffic road crashes on Saturday and Sunday than on any other day of the week.

  One is almost twice as likely to die in a road collision on Saturday or Sunday as on Monday or Tuesday.

  Nairobi contributed about one quarter of all road crash deaths in Kenya over this period. Nearly half of all deaths from road crashes in the capital’s roads take place on nine high risk roads – Mombasa Road, Thika Road, Kagundo Road, Eastern Bypass, Southern Bypass, Northern Bypass, North Airport Road, Waiyaki Way and Jogoo Road. Pedestrians constituted more than 70 per cent of deaths on these nine roads.

- # Holiday travel

  December and August are the two deadliest months of the year. From 2011 to 2014,December featured on the top four months with highest road deaths every year, and topped the list in 2011 and 2014. August featured in three of the four years.

  August and December may present more dangers because more children are home from school, and the weather is more likely to be sunny which means they spend much of their time outdoors.

- # Motorcycles

  Deaths of motorcyclists and pillion passengers, and their share of total road crash deaths have been increasing in the last 10 years at a much faster rate than those of other classes of road users.

  >Motorcyclist deaths increased from 44 in 2005 to a current 391 deaths in 2014, about an eight-fold increase.

  In 2005, motorcyclists and pillion drivers made up six per cent of traffic accident deaths. By 2014, the share had increased more than three-fold to 22 per cent. The next highest increase was among pillion passengers where deaths went up by 69 per cent.

  Deaths among passengers, drivers and pedestrians went up by less than 10 per cent while overall deaths from road crashes went up by 15 per cent.

  While the deaths due to motorcycles has been rising in the last decade, fatalities due to pedal cyclists has dropped by 66 per cent, possibly because many former pedal cyclists now own motorcycles.