Six hundred and forty nine (649) lives have been claimed by road accidents across the country so far since the year started
This is according to a report compiled by National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) of data collected between January 1 to February 20, 2024.
The statistics are an increase compared to the 623 recorded during the same period in 2023.
Road accidents across the country Pedestrians lead in fatalities at 252, compared with 190 recorded last year.
Following are motorcyclists recording 152 deaths marking a slight decrease compared to 177 in 2023.
In 2024, at least 125 passengers have lost their lives in road crashes compared to 114 in 2023.
Some 43 drivers have lost their lives in road accidents. This is a decrease compared to 59 in the same period last year.
Pillion passengers recorded 61 deaths compared to 71 witnessed last year.
This year, only 10 pedal cyclists have died from an accident within the period under review compared to 12 recorded in 2023.
In an earlier report, NTSA had listed 13 leading causes of accidents in 2023.
NTSA revealed that losing control was one of the main causes of road crashes, accounting for 929 deaths.
Cause not traced accounted for 575 road deaths followed by lane indiscipline at 491.
Overtaking improperly led to 443 accidents while misjudging clearance, distance, or speed resulted in 310 deaths.
Inappropriate speed accounted for 274 road crashes, and other apparent errors of judgment or negligence accounted for 219 deaths.
Also, stepping, walking, or running off the footpath or verge onto the road resulted in 121 deaths while crossing roads not masked by stationary vehicles accounted for 73 deaths.
Turning without due care accounted for 84 deaths, swerving had 58, walking or standing on the road had 60 and brake failure resulted in 45 deaths
In the same report, Saturdays were the most dangerous day of the week to travel in Kenya in 2023.
780 lives were lost through road crashes which was a decrease compared to 819 in 2022.
Sunday followed by 778 deaths compared to 896 in 2022.
Mondays had 566 fatalities, Tuesdays (469), Wednesdays (521), Thursdays (531) and Fridays 645.
Compared to 2022, 656 fatalities were recorded on Monday, Tuesday (551), Wednesday (557), Thursday (527) and Friday 669.
The data as seen by the Star also reveal non-visibility period from 1800 hrs to 0759 hrs accounted for 63.5 percent of road crashes in 2023.
The majority of the fatalities occurred between 6 pm and 8 pm where 466 deaths and 462 deaths were recorded respectively.
June 2023 was ranked as the most dangerous month where 439 fatalities had occurred from road accidents.
December recorded 423 deaths, March (389), January (379) and August with 372.
