Experts push for harmonised road safety standards to curb accidents

KEBS Managing Director Esther Ngari addresses the Press during the 32nd General Assembly of the African Organisation for Standardisation in Mombasa, on August 24, 2026. [Omondi Onyango, Standard]

Local and international standard experts are pushing for structured, evidence-based and harmonised approaches to road traffic safety to reduce road carnage in the country.

The experts who are meeting in Mombasa under the ISO/TC 241 umbrella to develop and promote international standards and guidelines for road traffic safety management said they were seeking to help organisations reduce deaths and injuries arising from traffic crashes.

They called for awareness of safety rules among road users and enhanced capacity building for safety enforcement agencies to reduce carnage on the Kenyan roads.

In a statement, Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) Director Esther Ngari, said the meeting offered an opportunity to share knowledge and explore how the implementation of ISO 39001 on road traffic safety management systems can support organisations in systematically improving road safety performance, strengthening accountability and contributing to national and global road safety objectives.

“Beyond saving lives, these systems contribute to sustainable transportation, improved mobility, enhanced operational efficiency, protection of vulnerable road users and creation of safer and more resilient communities,” she stated.

The meeting held at the Sarova Whitesands beach hotel in Mombasa County was themed, “Advancing road traffic safety management systems for safety, sustainable and efficient mobility.”

Kenya has recently witnessed an increase in road accidents, particularly on the Mombasa-Nairobi highway, with the annual toll running into thousands of deaths.

Kebs Deputy Director for Standards Development and Trade Maryann Kindiki said the national standards body will focus on creating awareness among road users and train law enforcement agencies and regulators as an intervention to reduce road accidents.

“There is a need for awareness creation to ensure that road users respect the law. Our work is to develop standards and also raise awareness on these standards. We will also train law enforcement agencies and regulators as an intervention to reduce road accidents,” Kindiki said.

She added, “By actively participating in standards development, sharing our expertise, and embracing best practice, we can ensure that our standards remain relevant and effective in addressing current and future road safety challenges.”

Industrialisation Secretary Erastus Gatebe blamed road accidents on a negative attitude towards road safety among drivers and other road users and called for enhanced public education to address the growing crisis.

“The main challenge in reducing road carnage has been the attitude towards the law. We need a lot of education to improve road safety,” Prof Gatebe said.

ISO/TC 241 chairman Dr Young-Jun Moon said road traffic safety management systems seek to ensure conformity and hence they are key to reducing accidents across the globe.

He said it was important to ensure the road infrastructure is adequate to keep motorists, pedestrians and other users safe.

Moon also called for sharing of road accident data among stakeholders to guide decision making and other interventions that help lower road carnage include putting up zebra crossings on busy roads.

“There is a need to collect data on road traffic fatality to assist in interventions that improve road safety,” he said.