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Road accidents claiming the lives of more men than women, NTSA report reveals

By Hilary Kimuyu December 4th, 2019 2 min read

Data by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) indicates that more than 80 per cent road accident victims who died in the period between January 1st and December 1st, 2019 are men.

The report which was released on Tuesday, also indicates that a total of 3,225 Kenyans have perished in road accidents this year, while 10,825 have sustained injuries.

This means that, on average, nearly 300 people died every month in road crashes.

The authority says of those who had died up to October, 2,263 or 83.3 per cent were men, while 459 or 16.7 per cent were women.

This year, 5,909 people have been seriously injured compared to 4,098 the same period last year, an increase of 1,811.

Out of the 3,225 people who died in road accidents this year, a majority were pedestrians at 1,247 followed by motorcyclists (660) and passengers (644).

A total of 299 pillion passengers were killed this year while the death toll for pedal cyclists was 67.

Among the 10,825 people reported to have been injured this year, 6,183 sustained serious injuries while 4,642 were minor injuries.

In the same period in 2018, the number of road accident fatalities stood at 2,827 while 8,954 were injured.

RISKIEST DAYS OF THE WEEK

With 337 reported deaths, Nairobi leads in the number of road fatalities followed by Kiambu (233), Nakuru (181), Machakos (168), Murang’a (105) and Makueni (102).

Most victims who died were between 20 years and 44 years. The least affected age group was 70 years and above.

The number of those who died in accidents this year aged between 30 years and 34 years were 298, while those between 25 years and 29 years were 298 and between 35 years and 39 years were 270.

The report also showed that 69 per cent of accidents occurred between 5pm and 7:59am while 31 per cent of the accidents occurred during the day.

Hit-and-run incidents have caused 925 deaths this year, loss of control of the vehicle 415, overtaking improperly 225 and misjudging clearance 140.

According to NTSA, most accidents happen on Sundays and Saturdays followed by Fridays, Mondays, Wednesdays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

On Sundays, some 497 people have been killed compared to 480 on Saturdays and 406 on Fridays.