Pedestrian deaths on Kenyan roads fell by close to 18 percent in July, a drop the National Transport and Safety Authority, NTSA, is crediting to a tougher joint push with Traffic Police against pedestrians who ignore designated crossing points.
NTSA’s July road safety report puts the toll at 146 pedestrian deaths for the month, down from 178 recorded in July 2025, a decline of 17.98 percent.
NTSA says the improvement is largely down to intensified enforcement aimed at getting pedestrians to actually use footbridges and marked crossings instead of cutting across busy roads.
“Pedestrian fatalities declined in July 2026 as the Authority and Traffic Police intensified enforcement and compliance checks targeting road users who fail to use designated crossing points, including footbridges,” NTSA said, adding that the decline was down to “the ongoing enforcement efforts aimed at encouraging pedestrians to use designated crossing points and comply with traffic rules,” among other measures.
The numbers follow a crackdown that NTSA rolled out in Nairobi starting July 20, working with the National Police Service and Nairobi City County to target pedestrians crossing at undesignated points despite footbridges being available nearby.
By the end of the month, at least 250 pedestrians had been arrested under the operation. Several of Nairobi’s busier crossing points have borne the brunt of the enforcement. On July 21, 22 pedestrians were arrested and arraigned near the Allsops footbridge along Thika Road after allegedly bypassing it to cross the road directly.
Two days later, a similar sweep at the Nyayo Stadium footbridge led to 45 arrests, and by July 27, another 35 pedestrians had been picked up at the Buruburu Interchange for the same reason.
The operations haven’t let up going into August either, with further arrests reported at Pipeline and Allsops. NTSA says the goal is to push compliance with road safety rules up and, in turn, bring pedestrian crash numbers down.
The stakes are significant: pedestrians made up roughly 38 percent of all road traffic deaths recorded by NTSA as of June 30 this year, making them the single largest group of road users killed in crashes nationally.
The enforcement drive falls under NTSA’s #StepsToZeroPedestrianDeaths campaign, which pairs the crackdown with public education and infrastructure upgrades.
The Authority has repeatedly urged pedestrians to stick to designated crossings and footbridges, follow traffic signals, and stay alert while crossing, including a specific warning against using phones or wearing headphones near roads, since both can dull awareness of oncoming traffic.
The renewed attention to footbridge uses builds on efforts that go back to last September, when the Kenya National Highways Authority began clearing hawkers and street families off footbridges and underpasses, arguing that encroachment on these structures was pushing pedestrians back onto the road.
Even so, some pedestrians have long complained about the state of certain footbridges, citing poor maintenance, hawkers taking over walkways, weak security and long staircases that make them a hassle to use.
NTSA has stood by its position regardless, insisting pedestrians should use the facilities that exist rather than risk crossing at undesignated points. The Authority described July’s numbers as encouraging, but said sustaining the drop will depend on continued compliance from all road users, not just pedestrians.
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