Over-speeding Causing Most Road Accidents in Kenya

Over-speeding has been termed as the major cause of most accidents the occur on Kenyan roads on the day to day basis. Different measures have been put in place to control this menace but it has only bore very little results.

Most of the accidents occur on the major highways in the country and this led the National Transport and Safety Authority to issue out safety measures that were to be followed by motorists using the roads.

Lack of self-discipline among motorists has made them to ignore the measure put in place and most of them keep on over-speeding, thus putting their passengers lives in danger.

A survey was conducted during the festive season and it was disclosed that motorists using the Nairobi-Nakuru highway were leading in over-speeding followed by those from the Central region heading to Nairobi.

Despite the fact that traffic surveillance cameras have been installed on the roads, motorists still ignore that fact and drive above the required speed limits. Traffic officers have also slept on their work since they do not punish the drivers who over-speed. This is because they rely on bribes from the same drivers who go above the law.

Drunk-driving, and vehicle unworthiness have also been among leading causes of road accidents. Motorists keep on complaining of tough measures that have been put in place but they do not comply to them at all.

Every year, more than 3,000 people are reported to have been killed in road accidents. This is the reason for the implementation of the tough rules which are not followed by both parties; motorists and traffic officers. Motorists allege that traffic officers have turned the exercise into a business between them and the NTSA top management.

A report by the World Health Organization stated that Kenya is among the worst performers in terms of fatalities in the world. This is a show that there is still too much that has not yet been done and this is a matter of urgency.

Article by Vera Shawiza.