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Mombasa, Nairobi highway ‘most dangerous’ in Africa


The Nairobi-Mombasa highway is among the most dangerous roads in the world.

This is according to Australian insurance firm Research by Budget Direct which says the 482-km road that connects Kenya’s two biggest cities claimed the lives of 29 people in a period of eight months in 2019.

“In just an eight-month period of 2019, 27 people died on the Mombasa Road to Nairobi, Kenya. During this period, 2,181 people died in total from road crashes across Kenya – and 839 of these were pedestrians. The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) found that the tuk-tuk was the vehicle least likely to be involved in an accident,” the report reads.

In 2017, there were 3,150 fatalities on the roads; 3,004 fatalities in 2018, 3,572 fatalities in 2019 and 3,572 fatalities last year.

The findings echo a 2018 report by NTSA which ranked the A109 Road as the deadliest road in the country followed by Thika Super Highway and Waiyaki Way.

Other high-risk roads named in the NTSA report included Kangundo Road, Gilgil-Nakuru, Marigat-Loruk, and Jogoo Road.

NTSA report reveals that most road accidents occur between 7:00 and 9:00 in the night.

The Authority discloses that 96.65 percent of the road accidents which occurred in 2020 were as a result of human error.

They said preliminary investigations show speeding, lane indiscipline, reckless driving, and driving under the influence of alcohol and other substances as the main causes of road accidents.

Among other causes of road accidents revealed by NTSA include misjudging clearance, brakes failure, swerving, crossing without due care at junctions, and cases of hit and run which causes are not known.

Some of the most dangerous roads in Africa, according to the researcher include the Accra to Cape Coast Road in Ghana which has accounted for 6,104 accidents and 7,465 casualties between 2004 and 2011.

Other notorious roads on the continent are the Plumtree-Bulawayo-Harare-Mutare Highway in Zimbabwe and Cameroon’s Douala-Yaoundé Road.

Research by Budget Direct used data from government websites, news reports, and transport associations to generate the report.