Why the police are imposing speed limits

When the National Transport and Safety Authority and the Traffic Police department began strict enforcement of the 50kph speed limit in urban areas, motorists went up in arms to protest the regulation.

This was partly due to a lack of understanding of the Highway Code regarding speed limits within built-up areas on entering the city/towns and also the genesis of these regulations.

Every day, pedestrians are at risk of death, injury and disability due to speeding motorists. This is exacerbated by the fact that the majority of pedestrians do not cross the road at designated points, and also the lack of pedestrian facilities on our roads.

An International Road Assessment Programme survey found that 95 per cent of the roads in Nairobi recorded high pedestrian flows, yet only 20 per cent had footpaths. Pedestrians fight for space with motorists who at times drive on pavements during jams.
In Kenya’s urban areas, pedestrians account for more than 80 per cent of road accidents, and countrywide, contribute to 47 per cent of all road crash fatalities.

In a year, the country loses more than 3,000 people from traffic accidents. Most of these are between 15 and 44 years, the most productive age group.

Stories of innocent pedestrian dying are not strange in the city. The tragedy, therefore, cannot be ignored.

The cost of these accidents to our economy is enormous. It has been estimated that Kenya loses in excess of Sh4.5 billion, exclusive of the actual loss of life, as a result of road accidents.

This calls for urgent measures to curb the menace. One way to reduce these accidents is by introducing speed limits in urban areas.
In 2011, the World Health Organisation declared 2011-2020 the decade of action for road safety with a particular focus on pedestrians.

PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENTS

As part of the measures to reduce pedestrian accidents, the WHO made a series of recommendations, including changing driver behaviour through legislating and enforcing new and existing laws that limit speed to 50kph on urban roads.

This can be further reduced where appropriate. For example, the speed limits could be capped at 30kph around schools.

According to the WHO, a pedestrian has 90 per cent chance of surviving a car crash at 30kph or below, but less than a 50 per cent chance of surviving impacts at 45kph or above. That tells you that the 50kph we are enforcing is still high.

Traffic laws and regulations are made after painstaking observations of certain behaviour of vehicles along certain roads, road users and taking statistics among other parameters. They take years of observation by the Traffic Department and scholars to make relevant legislation.

Addressing the issue of traffic accidents and congestion is therefore a multi-pronged approach. Each concerned government agency, as well as the public, must play their role.

I take note of the work being done by the private sector through the National Road Safety Trust of which I am also a trustee. In addition to donating 11 speed cameras to the traffic police, which have enabled us to enforce speed limits, the Trust is also involved in aggressively creating awareness on road safety.

The National Road Safety Trust is an initiative of Safaricom and Media Owners Association among other corporate organisations, working in partnership with the NTSA and the Traffic Police Department, in areas of awareness and education on road safety.

I urge all road users to stop viewing the measures being taken as punishment but rather as actions that are geared towards making walking safer.

Mr Murithi is the Traffic Commandant and a trustee of the National Road Safety Trust.