Road accidents claim 2,689 lives in Kenya in 9 months

By:Xinhua
update:October 12,2020

NAIROBI, Oct.12,2020 -- Some 2,689 people have been killed in road accidents between January and September compared to the loss of 2,655 lives in the same period last year, the authorities said on Friday.

According to statistics released by the National Police Service and the National Transport Safety Authority (NTSA) in Nairobi, motorcyclist and pillion passenger deaths increased by 44.94 percent and 19.44 percent respectively.

The road safety enforcers have blamed increased road fatalities on speeding and drunk driving.

The authorities said they will reintroduce alcoblow operations from Friday evening amid reports that some 60 people lost their lives between Oct. 2 and 4 due to drunk driving.

"We will have random drink-driving alcoblow tests on major towns and highways from today. Analyzing the trend points to the need to focus more efforts towards road safety in order to prevent the unnecessary loss of lives," said the authorities.

The police have thus been directed to undertake nationwide enforcement operations and will monitor drivers to check for speeding, lane discipline, compliance with Public Service Vehicle licensing requirements and roadworthiness of vehicles.

The authorities assured the public that measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 shall be in place when undertaking the tests.

In Kenya as in many other countries in Africa, many accidents occur due to drunken driving, bad roads and human error.

An estimated 3,000 Kenyans die in road accidents annually despite concerted efforts by the state and the private sector to promote safety on the highways, according to the NTSA.