Men are leading in fatalities linked to road accidents-NTSA

The mangled wreckage of an Eldoret Express bus following an accident at Pala Village in Awasi, Kisumu County on October 4, 2019, where 13 people died after a head-on collision between the bus and a truck. [Denish Ochieng, Standard]

At least eight men die in road accidents daily in Kenya, a 2019 report by the National Transport and Safety Authority has revealed.

The report which was issued by the NTSA on Tuesday indicated a sharp rise in the number of fatalities linked to road accidents in 2019 compared to 2018 in both genders.

It revealed that from January 16, 2018, to September of the same year, 1756 men perished in road accidents compared to 386 women over the same period.

This figure translates into the death of at least 219 men monthly which is seven men daily. Nonetheless, it was not a bad year for women casualties as 48 women were lost over the eight-month period, translating to at least one woman per day.

The trend only became gloomier as the number of male deaths shot to 2066 in January 16 to September 2019. This indicated that 258 men are lost monthly and at least eight every day.

Nearly every hour, a man dies in a road accident in Kenya, as per the report.

The increase has been noted in women’s statistics as the number of casualties rose to 417. This implies that 52 women are killed in road accidents every month, this makes it at least one death per day.

The NTSA further postulated that 83 per cent of the fatalities are male as women take 16 per cent.