Reasons of increased road accidents on Kenyan roads and possible solutions

  

Date Posted: 7/30/2013 10:02:51 AM

Posted By: kirstene  Membership Level: Gold  Total Points: 1264

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There has been increased road accidents over the years, innocent lives are lost everyday yet people do not seem to care, the society is doing so little to change this, yet it is the lives of people we are talking about here.Both young and old, women and men alike, their lives just end in an instant, causes that we can easily prevent but we choose to ignore. If this continues, then a lot of lives will surely end.
There is need for everyone to be involved in reverting this situation, the passengers, drivers and the whole society at large

Causes

Below are some of the causes of road accidents

Speeding vehicles
Due to the improved construction of roads, these roads are now very smooth and fun to drive on, however this has become a curse as some of the drivers now drive at a very high speed no thinking of the passengers they carry. When these speeding vehicles meet something on their way for instance a sharp bend, an animal or as passenger, it becomes hard for them to regulate this car and will most often than not cause accidents

Others will speed because they want to drive for more trips so that they can pay up the amount set by their owners and get extra shilling on their pockets for themselves. Though this seems like a noble thing to do, but we have to recognize that it is causing more harm than good.

Driving while drunk
Many people on the roads especially on weekends will drive while they are drunk, we are well aware of the effects alcohol has on our judgment, most of this drivers end up in accidents a higher percentage being caused by them.

Carelessness of pedestrians on the road
There are road bridges designed for pedestrians to use while crossing highways but due to our

laziness and carelessness, we choose to cross anywhere we are, some of this places are very dangerous and in the process allot of lives are lost

In addition, some pedestrians would cross the road while talking on the telephone, holding hands or even not observant at all, this carelessness eventually leads to death.

Road unworthy vehicles
Some vehicles on our roads are in a very bad shape, these vehicles will at times break in the middle of the road in the event the lead to accident.

Taking of bribes by policemen
This has greatly contributed to the increased accidents on the roads. Police are supposed to ensure that all the traffic rules are observed to the latter and those that fail taken to court, but what happens when a police sees a vehicle that is being driven recklessly and instead of correcting the offender, they are silenced by money? Are human lives worth those 50 shillings?

Lack of observing traffic rules
Many drivers do not observe traffic rules at all since few of them attended a proper driving school; a great number just obtained a fake driving license without proper qualification. These drivers will always cause accidents due to failure to observe the traffic rules. Go to the roundabouts you will be surprised at how crazy our drivers are, overtaking on the roundabout is very dangerous, but they do not know this and hence they will end up causing accidents due to their ignorance

Bad roads and bad whether
Though a lot has been done in terms of road improvement, there is still a lot that needs to be done. Many roads are in a very bad state and they have greatly contributed to accidents

Furthermore, bad weather has also lead to increased road accidents especially during rainy days when allot of trees fall on the road and eventually cause accidents, moreover some areas are really foggy and it becomes hard for drivers to see, in the event they end up in accidents and a lot of lives are lost in the process

Overloading
Due to greediness of some of our drivers, even though the car is full, they will always want to carry extra passengers in order to gain more money, however this poses a serious risk on the lives of the passengers.

some passengers also are to blame, while seeing that the car is full instead of waiting for another car, they will want to squeeze themselves in an already full car claiming they are in a hurry or just because of shear ignorance. These acts of carelessness eventually lead to the loss of many innocent lives

Solution
there is a solution to all this, just to mention but a few;

Strict rules to be put into place and strong penalties to the abusers this will greatly prevent some of the accidents that are experienced on our roads

Passengers should also be involved, do not just stay silent when the driver is putting your lives at risk, no matter how late you are, it is better to be late than not to reach at that particular place at all. Do not allow the vehicle to overloaded, there are allot of public services, if the owner does not want to listen to you then just alight and get another vehicle.

Police should desist from taking bribes as by doing so they are putting the lives of many Kenyans at risk.

Proper public road signs should be put in places that are clearly visible and at a proper distance. This will warn drivers early in time and in the event prevent accidents.

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