Chirchir decries road deaths, directs agencies to act

Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir has directed the road agencies to provide a detailed action plan to expand and put proper signage to avert the ever-increasing road fatalities in the country. [File, Standard]

Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir has directed road agencies to compile a report on all black spots amid outcry over the increasing number of road accidents across the country.

Chirchir also directed the road agencies to provide a detailed action plan to expand and put proper signage to avert the ever-increasing road fatalities in the country.

He said that lack of proper signage and painting of bumps is among the leading causes of road crashes in the country, as the country records an increase in fatalities by 9 per cent.

Reports by state agencies indicate that 4600 people die annually in accidents on Kenyan roads. Other reports indicate that five per cent of GDP is affected through road fatalities.

The CS who spoke during a three-day Inter-Agency Road Safety Conversation forum in Mombasa said he will be seeking a supplementary budget to repair road bumps.

He said the bumps should be well painted, all road signage well placed and black spots redesigned to safe zones to reduce the number of casualties on the roads.

"What we could do as road agencies is to ensure we discuss the budget for signage and widening and redesigning all black spots. Sometimes you see bumps cause accidents or prevent the. So let us ensure that we provide a budget for widening black spots instead of waiting until there is another accident and we just visit the victims at the hospitals," said Chirchir.

The CS admitted that road safety is a disaster that needs to be addressed as the number of fatalities continues to increase.

The number of road fatalities between last year and today continues to go up.

"We continue to earn our salaries, but the graph of fatalities keeps going up. We need to save the lives of breadwinners. Many breadwinners lost their lives," said Chirchir.

He said they will be pushing for more post-crush centres like the one constructed at Sagana.