Only behaviour change will end deaths on the roads

Soy Traffic Commander Joel Njoroge (in blue) and other officers inspect a vehicle that was involved in an accident along the Eldoret-Kitale road. [Peter Ochieng, Standard]

More than 3,000 people die annually in traffic accidents on Kenyan roads, and about 15,000 in East Africa. More than 75 per cent of road traffic casualties are economically productive young people.

Pedestrians and passengers are the most vulnerable; they account for 80 per cent of the deaths. This number is bigger than that of malaria, HIV and Aids plus Marburg and Ebola combined, and this number can easily double if nothing is done now to stop the carnage.