Nine black-spots in city where you are likely to get killed

A police officer assesses the scene where a matatu hit a tractor at Kamukuywa black spot. [Chrispen Sechere, Standard]

As a pedestrian living in Nairobi, you are likely to get killed in nine black-spots, according to a new report

These dangerous spots are areas around Pangani, City Cabanas on Eastern Bypass, Githurai and GSU roundabout on Thika Road.

Other death traps, according to the new report, are Landhies Road, Hamza on Jogoo Road, Moi Airbase on Juja Road and Ruaka.

Most pedestrian deaths occur at night between 7pm and midnight, with the report noting that four of every 10 accidents are fatal.

The report was jointly done by the World Bank, European Union, a British agency among other partners.

“The deadliest times for pedestrians are at night between 7pm and midnight when 41 per cent of pedestrian deaths occur. Implicating factors that need to be investigated further could include poor visibility, drunk driving and speed,” cautioned the report, noting that cross-examination of location and time of crashes could help in developing a strategy for remedying street lighting and enforcement of speed and alcohol regulation.

More than half (53 per cent) of the deaths and 50 per cent of the injuries happen between 5am and 8am and between 5pm and 11pm.

Seven of 10 deaths recorded in road accidents in Nairobi are pedestrian, with 2014 recording the highest rate at 79 per cent.

Crashes occurred in 1,400 different locations within the city, but more than half of the deaths and injuries were recorded in 200 locations.

“These locations represent 14 per cent of all locations, where severe crashes have occurred in the six years under review. This high concentration of crashes and negative crash outcomes is an opportunity to prioritise these locations for policy action and substantially remedy the loss of life in the city,” read the report.

The government and the World Bank started the smarTTrans collaboration to develop data, analytics, and evidence to improve the country’s road safety and transport policy.

The smarTTrans team built the first visual maps that looked at road crashes from multiple sources going for a number of years. “This constitutes the first step in building data and data systems leading to better road safety.”

“The data allow for the identification of crash location and time, helping identify the riskiest locations based on actual crashes and crash outcomes.

The report noted that matatu stages were not safe for pedestrians. Up to 35 per cent of deaths were found to occur within 20 metres of such stages.

“This staggering number is a call for action. Developing a better understanding of how to regulate and enforce matatu flows, driver and pedestrian behaviour, while at the same time improving the infrastructure at these sites will be required to guide policy action,” read the report.

About 200 black-spot locations were identified, with more than 15 crashes within 300 metres of each other.

Kenya has one of the highest pedestrian death rates, with 37 per cent of road accidents resulting in fatalities compared to the global rate of 22 per cent, according to figures by the World Health Organisation.

Pedestrian deaths

In Nairobi, pedestrian deaths represent 71 per cent of all road accident deaths that were reported in police crash records between 2012 and 2018.

Poor data, lack of analytics and policy experimentation constrained the government’s ability to develop policies and interventions to effectively regulate, monitor and enforce road safety.

“In Kenya, the World Health Organisation estimates that the number of RTC fatalities is 4.5 times the figure in the official registry. The difference is due to lack of information on the location of crashes and their characteristics, on the dispatch of ambulances and the destination of the victims, on the results of emergency response at trauma centres, and on vital statistics about people who might die at home from complications,” reads part of the report.

All the 14 police stations in Nairobi gave paper-based crash reports for the period between 2012 and 2018. Other sources of information included crowd-sourcing, mainly through contributions from a large online community such as Twitter handle Ma3Route and Waze, a GPS navigation software app that provides navigation information.

It also collected crowd-sourced data on crashes between 2018 and 2019.

About 10,000 police and 30,000 crowd-sourcing reports were accessed.