Road accidents claim 2626 lives as Nairobi, Kiambu, Nakuru lead in fatalities

Road accidents in the country have so far claimed the lives of 2,626 people and seen 3,240 injured in a worrying trend that the government is hoping to reverse.

The Capital City, Nairobi leads in accidents followed by Kiambu and Nakuru with speeding and drunk driving fingered as the main causes of accidents.

National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) director Francis Mejja said that private vehicles are involved the most in road accidents.

According to Mejja, 92% of these accidents are caused by human error, with mechanical problems accounting for five per cent while environmental issues are to blame just three per cent of the time.

Mejja was speaking at a road safety workshop to discuss ways of restoring sanity on Kenyan roads. It was attended by Interior CS Fred Matiang’i, Transport CS James Macharia and Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet.

The NTSA boss urged the police to strengthen security checks to help tame rogue drivers as well as impound unroadworthy vehicles.

IG Boinnet said the police force will be extra thorough as the festive season nears and also exploit the use of technology.

“We have set up six teams to support the various county teams during this festive season.  We have commenced the use of technology in Mombasa and Nairobi to make it easy to report incidences of offenders of the traffic laws,” said Boinnet.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i announced that the government will now go after rogue insurance companies over failure to compensate accident victims.