Poor enforcement of traffic rules and bad mindset are causes of road deaths

The scene of a road accident along the Nakuru-Eldoret Highway on August 17, 2016. PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Despite a myriad of policy and legislative initiatives, deaths from road accidents in this country over the past 18 years have remained high – more than 3,000, except in 2004, when the figure dropped to 2,251 deaths.

  • In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that the toll could be higher – 8,000, if you consider those who die in hospital.

I recently travelled by road from Nairobi to Arusha in Tanzania through Namanga and my suspicions on why we have such a high death toll on our roads were laid bare right before my eyes.

As I write this, I am not even sure if I am still alive after this trip to hell. For now, just take a deep breath the way I did and pray that we meet again.

We left town about 6am and save for the usual traffic snarl up around Machakos bus station, we were on the Mombasa highway within a couple of minutes.

Then I detected the first red flag. The driver, a man probably in his early 30s, was cruising about 80kph on a road with a speed limit of 50kph. Forget that in the early morning hours, hordes of people, including school children, cross this road at almost every point you can imagine. I noticed something else: the driver was talking on his mobile phone even as he swerved to overtake. At this point, I decided I had had enough and decided to speak up.

“Excuse me sir,” I shouted. “You are carrying people not potatoes. I suggest you either stop speaking on the phone while driving or pull aside.”

I repeated this twice just in case he had not heard.

By now, everyone was staring at me as if I had just landed from Jupiter. One person even called me a “death freak”. To his credit, the driver was polite. He apologised and promised not to use the phone again. He kept his promise up to the Namanga border.

FLAGGED DOWN

In Mlolongo, we were flagged down by the police, two men and one woman. In my fantasy world, I assumed the police would inspect the vehicle’s roadworthiness – you know, check the tyre tread, insurance sticker, or for compliance with seat belts. Instead, the driver disembarked, walked to the back of the car, and handed the police his driving licence. He chatted briefly with the officers and within a few minutes, he was handed back his licence and we proceeded.

“They asked me to give them Sh400,” he lamented.

You must be wondering, the way I did, why he had to pay if the vehicle had no fault. The driver explained that every vehicle using the road is required to pay a standard daily fee.

According to the driver, the police know each vehicle plying the route and even when one breaks down, they follow up to ensure that the money is paid in arrears.

We were stopped five times between Nairobi and the Namanga border post. The Mlolongo dance was repeated each time. And all along the driver was cruising at an average 130kph. I wondered what happened to the requirement for speed governors for public service vehicles.

In case you are wondering why I am making a fuss about a simple road trip, here are the facts. Despite a myriad of policy and legislative initiatives, deaths from road accidents in this country over the past 18 years have remained high – more than 3,000, except in 2004, when the figure dropped to 2,251 deaths. In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that the toll could be higher – 8,000, if you consider those who die in hospital.

IT’S IRONIC

The International Road Federation estimates that out of the 1.3 million people who die due to road traffic accidents every year worldwide, about 91 per cent are in low- and middle-income countries which, ironically, are home to less than half of the world’s registered vehicles.

I am going to state the obvious here: when it comes to road accidents, the problem is not lack of sufficiently detailed laws and penalties but poor enforcement of basic traffic rules due to greed and corruption.

Countries that enjoy safe roads have enforced five basic rules: seat belts, motorcycle helmets, bicycle helmets, speed cameras, and breath testing (AlcoBlow).

Studies have shown that if these rules were enforced 80 per cent of the time, deaths from road accidents would fall drastically. You can add mobile phone use here.

If you recall, the “Michuki rules” came into effect in February 2004 and included such basic laws as installing speed governors in public vehicles and ensuring that passengers wore seat belts.

These, together with the minister’s no-nonsense, take-no-prisoners approach to public administration reduced deaths from road accidents from 3,001 the previous year to 2,251 within seven months.

You will not like this, but I will say it anyway: when it comes to road traffic deaths, our reckless, lawless, me-first, it-only-happens-to-others mindset is killing us.

 

Dr Subiri Obwogo works for an international organisation.