Ideas & Debate

A careful journey of cutting road deaths by half in four years

accident

Kenyans are an educated lot that can be made to understand and assimilate the merits of safe driving. FILE PHOTO | NMG

The last three months have seen a major crisis on Kenyan roads, and this presents a ripe opportunity for the road authorities to significantly improve road safety. I will here try to be useful with constructive suggestions on how to go about it.

It is possible to reduce by half the annual road fatality record to about 1,500 by the end of 2022. This target recognises that Kenya is already a global laggard in road safety performance with much headroom for improvement.

It also assumes that Kenyans are generally an educated lot that can easily be made to understand and assimilate the merits of safe driving. Another positive fact is that Kenya already has in place a strong legal, regulatory and institutional framework for road safety.

There is, however, the negative side of Kenyan drivers who generally have a culture of stubborn risk-taking, negligent short-cuts, impatience, and only a minimum measure of courtesy. This challenge makes road safety management difficult.

Once convinced that the “1,500 by 2022” target is achievable, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) should segment the problem to identify the most vulnerable areas to give priority.

Information already published indicates that the PSV, motor bikes, and pedestrians segments are the largest accident contributors.

A factor analysis of these areas will further reveal the pinch points that if effectively addressed will substantially improve safety.

Experience indicates that the most cross-cutting safety hindrance among drivers and stakeholders is attitudinal and behavioural. They fail to fully appreciate the painful and expensive implications of road accidents on victims, impacts on the economy, and national esteem.

It is their failure to embrace personal responsibility in safe driving that needs to be addressed. That is, driver’s responsibility to protect himself and others on the roads.

A national “crusade” for public awareness and education is, therefore, urgently needed for road safety education and personal commitment.

The campaign has to be very impactful to sustainably win the hearts and minds of drivers and all stakeholders.

The critical success factor is the embrace of self-responsibility by drivers to sustain safety on our roads after achieving understanding and acceptance of safe driving practices.

Defensive driving and proactive personal responsibility should be strongly emphasized.

Repeated persuasive messages on critical dos and don’ts of safe driving will finally change the driving culture and enhance personal responsibility.

The safety campaign has to be defined as a national project to be given priority and verbalised at the highest level of leadership, with sufficient budgetary allocation to sustain effective media and education programmes.

A game-changing message for public awareness and education is “fitness to drive”. Driving is a very mental process where judgment and alertness guide decisions and reactions on the road.

The mind will need to be alert, observant, and capable of making good judgments while on the wheel.

READ: Kenya must take new measures to enhance road safety

Biologically, an alert mind needs enough sleep and should be free of fatigue and influence of alcohol, and drugs, including miraa (khat). Worry and serious illness can also reduce capacity to concentrate. Protection from distractions like mobile phones is equally essential.

Of these detracting factors, it is only alcohol that is legally checked with all the others left to the discretion of drivers and their employers. This is where public awareness and education will come in handy.

NTSA will need partnerships with firms, institutions, and saccos in road transportation. Most of these already have road safety protocols for their drivers, and these can only add value to NTSA efforts.

It is important that the NTSA present a credible plan to reduce road accidents. Indeed, it has become a must-do project, which Kenyans are expecting to see.

My previous wide experiences on road safety management systems tell me that it is achievable.

In the meantime, I request the road safety authorities to urgently act on the killer “Miraa Proboxes” plying the Meru/Nairobi highway. They drive with threatening impunity and with apparent immunity from police action.