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Sunday was deadliest day on Kenyan roads in 2017, NTSA data shows

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Wreckage of vehicles involved in the crash at the Sachangwan blackspot in December 2017. PHOTO | NMG

Sunday was the deadliest day for travellers on Kenyan roads in 2017, breaking a trend from previous years when most fatalities were recorded on Friday and Saturday.

Fresh data by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) shows that 595 fatalities occurred on Sunday in 2017 — the highest among days of the week.

In 2016, the highest number of fatalities was recorded on Saturday at 545 victims.

The NTSA did not immediately give a reason for the sharp rise in fatalities on Sunday but the trend could be linked to fatigue after engaging weekend breaks or a rush by travellers to return to their stations ahead of the start of Monday workday.

The data further shows that apart from Sunday, road fatalities rose on Tuesday in 2017 — reversing the previous year’s trend. Last year, some 364 deaths occurred on Tuesday compared to 322 the previous year.

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Road accidents: Sunday was the deadliest day of the week in 2017

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A lower number of fatalities were registered in the other days of the week with Monday going on record as the safest day for road users.

In terms of time of the day, 9pm was the deadliest hour on Kenya roads in 2017 with 278 fatalities recorded, partly due to poor visibility and a rush to get home.

The safest time to be on the road was 4am, partly due to low traffic at this time.

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Road accidents: 9pm was the deadliest time

In terms of months, December was the deadliest with 356 deaths last year compared to 289 cases the previous year.

February was the deadliest month in 2016 with 305 fatalities reported.

READ: Uhuru orders NTSA off the roads

Safest month

June was the safest month in 2017 with 178 deaths. Statistics also show that hit-and-run was the single highest cause of accidents in 2017 with 609 cases recorded, followed by loss of control (528 cases) and poor overtaking (320 cases).

Private cars retained their position as the largest contributors to fatal accidents, accounting for 28 per cent of reported cases.

This was a slight improvement from 2016 when 35 per cent of deadly accidents were attributed to private cars.

Commercial vehicles were the second largest cause of fatal accidents, contributing 24 per cent of recorded cases compared to 25 per cent the previous year.

Public service vehicles (PSVs) retained position three among the biggest causes of fatalities at 20 per cent, similar to the previous year.

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Crash contribution by vehicle type and high risk roads

Motorcycles were linked to 17 per cent of road fatalities, a marginal drop from 18 per cent in 2016. In terms of human demographics, the highest cases of fatalities were recorded among those aged 30-34 years.

The NTSA statistics show that the Nairobi-Mombasa highway was the deadliest last year followed by the Nakuru-Eldoret and the Nairobi-Thika highways.

The Garissa-Mwingi and Meru-Nanyuki highways were the safest.