The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) together with other Government Agencies have revealed the main reasons why 2018 has the highest death toll accruing from road accidents.
In a major crack-down of Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) along Nakuru-Nairobi highway, Road Safety Association of Kenya’s David Kiarie revealed that most of them had tampered with speed governors.
He further added that was the main reason why PSVs were leading in road accidents claiming more lives in the 2000 deaths reported this year alone.
The agencies also noted that over-speeding and reckless overlapping are among the top reasons why road accidents have been on the rise recently.
According to a commuter plying the Nairobi-Nakuru highway, the accident rate is so high that in a span of three hours, he witnessed four accidents on Sunday evening.
"Over 2,000 Kenyans have lost their lives so far this year and this is an increase from last year so we had to intervene and conduct this crackdown,” stated Mr. Kiarie during the crackdown.
NTSA, who intend to carry on with the crack-down until "sanity is restored" on the roads, suspended several Saccos for flouting traffic rules.
The crackdown saw several drivers arrested and their vehicles impounded.
A report by NTSA also shows that despite passenger death drastically reducing this year, pedestrians are the most affected largely because of negligence. Most pedestrians cross busy roads at non-designated areas with several reportedly knocked dead under footbridges.
2,214 people have lost their lives between September 2017 to September 2018 as compared to 2,053 the same period last year. 3,302 sustained serious injuries this year than 2882 who did last year.
