160 black spots where you could die on Kenyan roads

At least 160 accident black spots along highways across the country have been identified.

Rift Valley has 12 black spots, the greatest number, while North Eastern has the least at five.

In Nairobi County, Mombasa Road is the top killer, statistics by the National Transport Safety Authority (NTSA) show.

Between January and December 1, 2015, Mombasa Road recorded 59 fatalities out of 628 deaths in Nairobi County.

Over 160 accident black spots mapped out to warn road users sections are among the deadliest spots along the busy highway.

The black-spot at Kibunja area along Nakuru-Eldoret Highway where several people have lost their lives in the past. (PHOTO:BONIFACE THUKU/ STANDARD)

In the same period, Thika Road came second, recording 50 deaths while Waiyaki Way had at least 45 fatalities.

Other killer roads in Nairobi are Eastern Bypass, Kangundo Road, Northern Bypass and Jogoo Road at 33, 31, 30 and 26 fatalities respectively.

On Waiyaki Way, the area near Kangemi flyover is a black spot.

Users of Jogoo Road are at the greatest risk at Maziwa Stage.

According to the NTSA, 74 per cent of Nairobi’s accident fatalities are pedestrians.

In Nakuru County, users of the Naivasha-Nakuru highway should be more wary at Kinungi, Gilgil junction, Njoro Road junction, Ngata bridge-Sobea and Maili Mbili in Naivasha, among other spots.

Although the county recorded 235 deaths, placing it second after Nairobi, it has an 11km road section nicknamed ‘highway to hell’. Salgaa-Kibunja stretch on the Nakuru-Eldoret highway has claimed several lives. The number of deaths on the stretch nears half the total lives lost in accidents in the whole of Rift Valley, with majority involving trailers or trucks ferrying goods, police reports say.

Motorists should be more careful while using Nakuru-Timboroa-Burnt Forest especially on Timboroa-Danger, Salgaa-GSU camp, Makutano Junction-Eldama Ravine, Kahoya-Timboroa, Equator-King’ero among other dangerous spots.

In Central Kenya, Kiganjo-Naru Moru Road, Kibirigwi-Sagana, Limuru-Uplands, Thika Blue Post - Sagana Bridge Road and Kiriaini-Murang’a Road are some of the leading killer sections in the region.

Black spots in Nyanza include Awasi-Ahero Road, Kiboswa-Kisumu Road, Daraja Mbili-Bondo Junction, Oyugis-Katitu Road and Migori-Kakrao Road. Other notorious spots are Gucha Bridge, Migori Township, Ogembo Nyanguso Road, Kisii Township Main Road, Mwembe Area Kisii Town and Kisii Daraja Mbili.

In Western, one is likely to die in a road crash on the Mbale-Vihiga Road section, Kakamega-Chavakali Road, Kakamega-Mumias-Makunga, Kakamega-Lubao-Webuye, Kambi Ya Mwanza Ejinya Corner and Matayos, among other notorious sections.

North Eastern has the fewest spots, perhaps because of the poor road network in the region. Some of the black spots in the area are Garissa Madogo-KBC Station, Modogashe-Habaswein, Ukasi-Bangale, Bangale-Hola Road Junction and Buna-Gurar.

In Coast, frequent road accidents occur at Tsavo-Maungu-Voi section, Wundanyi-Mwatate, Maungu-Tsavo East Gate Road, Maktau-Taveta Road, Mazeras-Miritini Road, Kilifi-Vipingo Road, Kibarani-Changamwe-Makande among other black spots.

The killer spots have been mapped out to warn motorists, pedestrians and cyclists to approach the areas with caution, especially during the festive season when there is a lot of traffic on the roads. According to NTSA, some 2,905 people have died on the roads between January and December 17 this year.

The interactive mapping of the black spots by Safe Way Right Way is a joint programme between Total and World Bank’s Global Road Safety Facility initiative for regional corridor road safety in Africa.

Vincent Wandera of Safe Way Right Way said mapping of the black spots entailed determination of the reasons that make each black spot dangerous.

“Nairobi contributes to about 23 per cent of the road fatalities and remains the county with most fatalities,” said an NTSA official.

The safety authority says most of the identifiable roads in Nairobi with high fatalities have high pedestrian and vehicular traffic and low usage of the provided crossing areas or footbridges.

Other factors that attributed to the high fatalities in Nairobi are relatively high speeds for the traffic mix and low number of the designated crossing points and footbridges.

As at Wednesday last week, Kenya had recorded about 2,896 deaths compared to 2,771 documented within the same period in 2014, representing 4.5 per cent increase. Kenya Police Service Statistics indicate road accidents claim not less than 3,000 lives annually.

In its 2015 report titled ‘The Global Status on Road Safety’, World Health Organisation (WHO) ranks Kenya along with Rwanda and Tanzania for having the highest fatalities in Africa. At least 32.9, 32.1 and 29.1 people lose their lives in road accidents in Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya respectively in every 100,000 people.

NTSA attributes the increase to “human error and in particular speeding over the limit, reckless and dangerous driving and overtaking, drink-driving, non-use of safety belts, driver fatigue, the use of undesignated areas by pedestrians and non-compliance with traffic rules and regulations”.

The grim statistics could dramatically soar in the remaining nine days due to the large number of people travelling during this festive season. It is of more interest to note that private vehicles lead in killing road users at 34 per cent, with most of the crashes happening late in the evening. This confirms drink-driving as one of the major contributors to road carnage.

Commercial vehicles come second at 23 per cent while public service vehicles follow by contributing 20 per cent of deaths.

“With many Kenyans embarking on road journeys in the December month, we also need to be aware and cautious of other road safety concerns that may lead to driver distraction,” said NTSA Corporate Communications Deputy Director Dominic Kabiru.

NTSA has set stringent conditions for night travel by PSVs.