Data from the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) showed that over 1,072 people died from road accidents between January and March 2023.
“The number of passenger deaths is attributed to speeding vehicles, crossing at undesignated places, distracted driving or walking and drunk driving,” NTSA revealed when announcing the statistics on Monday, April 3.
One of the undesignated places is when pedestrians fail to use the available footbridge and opt to cut across a busy highway.
Unbeknownst to many, this is illegal and attracts an instant fine as stipulated by the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA).
KURA introduced the offence in 2021 after an increasing number of pedestrians were involved in accidents due to failure to use designated footbridges.
If caught crossing the road under a footbridge, you are liable to pay a fine of up to Ksh5,000.
"Statistics of the people killed in road crashes indicate that up to 40 per cent of victims are pedestrians,” KURA explained the reason behind the fine.
Kenyans.co.ke spoke to a leading insurance company in the country and established that in case of an accident, the pedestrian can end up incurring more losses.
“A court of law can actually find the pedestrian to be in the wrong and ordered to pay damages,” a representative of the company told Kenyans.co.ke.
On how that could happen, the official explained, “In such a scenario, the motorist obtains police abstract and is given a claim form by the insurance company to fill.”
“The case heads to court where police officers will interrogate who flouted traffic rules,” she explained further.
After the case has been represented, the court will decide if it is the pedestrian who is liable and bound to pay damages.
A section of Kenyans revealed that they keep off footbridge because of insecurity reasons.
“Some footbridges are hideouts for criminals who will rob you. That is why we risk being fined and opt to cut across the busy highways,” they justified their actions.
