Behavior change will help to reduce road crashes

In the month of December alone close to 356 hundred people died on the Kenyan roads prompting the President to call for the withdrawal of National Transport and Safety Authority(NTSA) officers from the roads. The agency has been on the spot following increased accidents that have killed many especially those using private cars. The World Health Organisation in 2016 placed the number of individuals dying globally every year because of road accidents to be over a million. The report further indicated that the road traffic injuries are the leading causes of death among young people aged 15- 29 years old.

In Kenya, there have been many road safety campaigns geared towards sensitising the road users since many of the road accidents are human caused. One of the biggest challenges leading to human causing accidents is their behavior particularly the conduct of the drivers on the roads. From drunken driving, overspeeding, misjudgment, overtaking errors, failure to give way as well as fatigue are human behavior which lead to unnecessary loss of lives on our roads. The truck drivers have also been blamed for causing accidents especially at night as they fail to dim their lights impairing the visuals of motorists leading to many crashed.

To address these issues there is a need for individual behavior change and a multisectoral approach to enhance road safety and improve behavior change on our roads. There is need for strict enforcement of traffic laws and increased fines charges on traffic offenders so that they are deterrent. There is also need to improve oversight and measures to eliminate corruption in the issuance of driving licenses and on the road blocks since corruption on the roads is a major cause of some of the road accidents. The relevant agencies should observe that changing people’s attitudes towards speed, drink-driving and dangerous driving will be the most critical areas of reducing road traffic carnages in the country.

The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), being a lead agency on road safety matters should implement continuous behavior change campaigns to promote responsible road use, eliminate dangerous and drunk driving and eliminate unlicensed driving on our roads.

The road accidents continue to cause considerable economic losses the victims, their family and to the nation as a whole. The losses arise from the cost of treatment as well as reduced or lost productivity by those killed or disabled by their injuries, and for family members who need to take time off to take care of the injured.