Road Accidents Or Poor Decisions?

Ms. Rahab Wambui counts herself lucky after escaping fatal injuries by a whisker while taking a walk in Nairobi central business district. What she witnessed, however, is not for the faint-hearted. Right before her eyes an old, battered pickup truck rammed into a little boy who was holding onto his father’s hand.

“We were walking on the roadside platform when a pickup lost control, came straight at us at full speed. The father tried to push the car back as it went over his toddler’s body. What a tragedy.” Narrated Rahab, with a sigh.

Illegal driving

This beaten old truck was on the road illegally, the driver made the decision to drive it on a Saturday morning hoping the police would be busy enjoying their weekends. The driver lost control over the car, killing a minor.

According to the Kenyan Traffic police, almost all accidents in Kenya are caused by human error. A person is always responsible for a road crash. It is common to see someone take a glass of wine before hitting the road plus drunk drivers on the road in Kenya especially on the weekends. The introduction of breathalysers by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) is a major milestone. However, Kenyans have developed a habit of telling others to avoid the roads that the police are operating on to avoid being caught. They have even taken to the social media such as facebook and twitter to warn others of police operations.

“Usually we set up at least two police checks on the same route. This is to counter corruption, because we do not know the cops that might accept a bribe, we discourage it by having the two stops.” Informed SSP (OC DTV) Ayub Gitonga from the Police Traffic Department.

“We were walking on the roadside platform when a pickup lost control, came straight at us at full speed. The father tried to push the car back as it went over his toddler’s body. What a tragedy.”

Inspector Gitonga explains that the two police barriers are also a tool to counter corrupt policemen and ensure that the lawbreakers are nabbed. Even so, the Traffic police are understaffed, with only 2500 policemen to serve the whole country.

“Kenyans only follow laws in the presence of law enforcers, yet we are so few in numbers” said Inspector Ayub Gitonga.

Kenyan police. Image Credit: kenyacarbazaar

Insufficient police force has allowed Kenyans to get away with traffic offences. The government took the initiative of installing speed cameras in urban areas such as Nairobi, Naivasha, Nakuru, Thika and Machakos so as to catch offenders in real time.

According to the Traffic police this has made drivers more observant of the law. Unfortunately the road cameras are limited to daytime with no night vision and the police face the additional challenge of accessing the footage.

‘Jaywalking’

‘Jaywalking‘ is the order of the day in Kenya. People cross the roads on phones, rushing without even glancing at the traffic lights. Yet, one out of two people killed in a road crash is a pedestrian, according to the World Health Organisation.

Over the last two months, August and September, police officers along with NTSA officers have pitched tent on footbridges across Nairobi to arrest pedestrians who refuse to use the footbridges. Those caught were charged in Mobile courts set up to facilitate efficient fast court procedures. Mobile Courts have enabled the Police to bring to justice law offenders.

According to the Kenya police, many Kenyans have a habit of skipping bail after charges of road offences have been brought against them in a court of law. This has left the Police services with many warrants issued out for road lawbreakers.

Careless drivers

Exhausted drivers; strongly medicated drivers; over speeding and over lapping drivers; ignorant of road signs and signals drivers; careless drivers, which one are you?

Most roads in Kenyan cities were built during the colonial era with a small number of urban dwellers in mind. Rural areas are still developing their roads. Flocks of animals crowd our roads both in towns and country sides.

Yet, establishing better roads is only half our problem, it is that road un-worthy vehicles that one decides to drive, that decision to speed up or overlap or to ignore the traffic signs or wearing headphones or not to use the seat belt or use a phone while driving/crossing the road or have a few drinks before hitting the road that is killing us on the road.