Nairobi: A second accident response centre has been launched at the accident-prone Kinungi area on the Nairobi-Nakuru highway in Naivasha as a measure to save lives on the Northern Corridor, which is known to record high road carnage every year.
According to Kenya News Agency, the response centres are part of the Huduma baada ya Ajali Barabarani project, a life-saving initiative supported by UN-Habitat. This project aims to provide critical and timely First Aid and support to road accident victims while promoting road safety awareness along the Nairobi-Eldoret highway. The centres will also provide stabilisation at accident scenes, trauma management, and support to victims of road accidents, alongside proper management of the accident victims and timely hospital evacuations for those in critical condition. St. John’s Ambulance will manage all first responders to numerous accidents along the single-lane highway.
This initiative follows the opening of another facility by St. John’s earlier this year in the Ka
rai area in Naivasha on the same highway to respond promptly to road accident victims. During the launch of the Kinungi centre, Traffic Commandant, Assistant Inspector-General Dr. Fredrick Ochieng, expressed concerns about the rising number of road accidents, indicating that the Northern Corridor from Mombasa to the Malaba border accounts for a significant portion of these incidents. He highlighted that fatalities had risen by eight percent in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period in 2023.
Data from the National Police Service (NPS) released in September indicates that 7,114 Kenyans have been involved in road accidents since the beginning of the year, with 3,674 seriously injured and 585 suffering minor injuries. Dr. Ochieng attributed the increase in accidents to a lack of awareness about traffic regulations, citing that many pedestrians in Nairobi cross roads at undesignated places, thereby risking their lives.
With the festive season approaching, where road accidents typically sp
ike, there is a need to prioritize road safety awareness, increase road signs, and ensure their visibility. Plans are underway to enhance patrols on highways during this period to arrest those violating traffic rules. Additionally, there are efforts to introduce toll-free numbers for reporting rogue motorists, initially starting in Nairobi, as part of a commitment to halve road accidents by 2030.
Dr. Ochieng also called attention to the vandalism of guardrails and road signs, urging the public to report such incidents to help prevent this vice. In response to the increase in accidents, the government, in partnership with St. John’s Ambulance and other stakeholders, has been setting up emergency response centres at major black spots along the Northern Corridor.
St. John’s Ambulance CEO Dr. James Njagi emphasized the necessity of establishing the Kinungi centre due to the high number of accidents reported along this highway stretch. He encouraged other stakeholders to support the establishment of additional r
esponse centres nationwide to enhance emergency responses during accidents. Currently, there are 19 highway stations on the northern corridor, with plans to increase this number to 200.
The installation of speed cameras on major highways, including those in Nairobi, Nakuru, Kiambu, and Machakos counties, is seen as a pivotal measure in reducing road accidents. According to NTSA estimates, over 3,000 Kenyans die annually from road accidents, with a significant proportion of fatalities being men aged 30-34, representing a substantial loss of productivity for the country. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports even higher figures.
Efforts to curb road accidents include erecting road signs in blackspot areas, redesigning road infrastructure, and implementing speed cameras to monitor drivers, aimed at reducing road accidents by 50 percent. Despite these measures, vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, motorcyclists, and cyclists, remain the most affected, along with passengers often traveling in unsa
fe public transport.