A fatal accident at Eastern Bypass on Tuesday, March 28, produced an unlikely hero after a man moved in to salvage the motorist's property.
The driver was cruising in a Toyota Double Cabin when he crashed and later succumbed to the injuries sustained.
According to Sikika Road Safety, the driver breathed his last as passers-by raided the wreckage and stole from him, prompting the Good Samaritan to intervene.
He recovered the dead motorist’s phone and wanted to contact the family via the emergency numbers saved.
However, he could not do so as the phone was locked, and as an alternative, he decided to hand it over to relevant authorities.
Fortunately, the victim's son called, offering the Good Samaritan an opportunity to update him on his father's whereabouts.
“The family called me as I was heading to Kihunguro Police Post to hand over the phone. They are on the way coming,” he told Sikika Road Safety.
He further met the wife, handed over the phone, and consoled her.
While a section of Kenyans applauded the man for his heroism, others cautioned that his actions could have landed him in jail.
“His kind act of keeping the phone may end him in prison as it can easily pass out to be murder or robbery (with violence). Our systems hardly appreciate those who do good,” Conrad Oronyi noted.
Other Kenyans pinpointed the importance of saving emergency contacts in your phone.
“Kindly notify everybody using a smartphone that adding emergency contacts is very important, even if the phone is locked you can still access emergency information by tapping on the emergency button just below that lock screen,” another social media user advised.
Smartphones have a feature that allows you to access contacts in emergency cases, even when the phone is locked.
“Always save a number or two on the emergency contact list, they can be accessed without unlocking the phone,” Faith Lumonya commented.
Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) has been on the spot for the increasing accidents at the Eastern Bypass, with stakeholders urging the authority to erect bumps on the expanded road to dissuade overspeeding.
How to Add Emergency Contacts
To set the emergency information on your phone:
- Open Settings.
- Choose About Phone.
- Click Emergency Information.
- Enter what you want to share in case of an emergency
Tap the lock screen button, then the Emergency Contacts button to access these private details when a phone is locked.
