Curbing road accidents is a collective responsibility

Sachagwan road accident that claimed over 30 lives in December 2017

Focus has been on the Nakuru-Eldoret Road on which a lot of lives have been lost through road accidents. In December alone, the menace of accidents on this road in the space of a few days has sent the country reeling in shock. The accidents have dampened December’s celebratory mood across the country.

Public outcry following the December 12 accident at Sachang'wan involving 13 vehicles in which 17 people died after another seven had died on the same road on December 9 galvanised the Government into action. Roads Principal Secretary John Mosonik said Sh500 million had been set aside for the construction of a dual carriageway and the erection of bumps to contain accidents.

A few days after work on erecting road bumps began, another accident at Makutano along the same Nakuru–Eldoret road claimed 10 lives on Saturday night. On Sunday, 17 people are reported to have lost their lives in yet another road accident along the Thika –Garissa Road. This is overwhelming. Collectively as Kenyans, we need not take any more of this; we must move from expressing horror, recriminations and take drastic action. The National Transport and Safety Authority and traffic police officers manning roads have been the centre of focus in the midst of the growing number of accidents. However, while enforcing road safety is in their province, it is important to examine what role drivers, public service vehicle owners, cyclists and pedestrians play in contributing to accidents. Eliminating accidents ought to be a shared responsibility.

It would help a great deal if passengers on public service vehicles became the custodians of their own safety by speaking out loudly to drivers. Where necessary, report cases of careless driving to police officers at the next road block. Looking on passively as drivers engage in reckless driving is the greatest contributor to accidents. NTSA needs to set up toll-free telephone lines whose numbers should, as a rule, be prominently displayed in all PSVs to help travellers report individual cases of road indiscipline by their drivers. Time for behavioural change is now.

A constant factor in the reported accident cases is the involvement of heavy trucks. Diverting heavy trucks to less busy roads could help. Besides carrying more passengers than the vehicle’s capacity as reported in the Thika case, poor vehicle maintenance that might have caused the Makutano accident points to police and NTSA inefficiency in making sure road rules are followed to the letter.