Road Carnage in Africa
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Road accidents (Carnage) in Kenya. How organizations can contribute to address this imminent Human and
Economic crisis.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction to road accidents in Kenya 2
2. The main issues with road accidents 5
3. Other subsidiary issues 7
4. The effect of road accidents to businesses and the economy 8
5. Prepare to manage road safety challenges in an organisation 10
6. Dealing with ethical and legal issues 13
7. Future implications if issue is not addressed 15
8. Bibliography 17
1. Introduction
Last year, 1 day before Christmas day, the Kenya Traffic police led by the Police Commissioner, Mr Mathew Iteere launched yet another National Road Safety Campaign aimed at curbing road accidents during the holidays and cutting the holiday period road accidents rate by 50% from the tradition high of 200-300 accidents that happen during that period from 24 December to 5 January (Daily Nation, 24th December 2009).
In his Christmas message, The Police Commissioner regretted that most road accidents in Kenya can be avoided (even eliminated). He noted that road accidents are mainly caused by carelessness (human error and poor judgement) by road users. He singled out over-speeding, over-loading, none use of the safety belts and disregard of the Highway Code as the most abused traffic rules today. In his widely televised message, he issued a warning to careless drivers and directs the traffic police (blue boys) to act on those that abuse the traffic rules.
Such a road safety crackdown is not new in the 46-year old post- independence Kenya. But those actions should be strengthened and be made into routine practices that have a longer timeframe enabling one to build the much needed sustainability.
It’s a widely known fact worldwide that road
Road accidents (Carnage) in Kenya. How organizations can contribute to address this imminent Human and
Economic crisis.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction to road accidents in Kenya 2
2. The main issues with road accidents 5
3. Other subsidiary issues 7
4. The effect of road accidents to businesses and the economy 8
5. Prepare to manage road safety challenges in an organisation 10
6. Dealing with ethical and legal issues 13
7. Future implications if issue is not addressed 15
8. Bibliography 17
1. Introduction
Last year, 1 day before Christmas day, the Kenya Traffic police led by the Police Commissioner, Mr Mathew Iteere launched yet another National Road Safety Campaign aimed at curbing road accidents during the holidays and cutting the holiday period road accidents rate by 50% from the tradition high of 200-300 accidents that happen during that period from 24 December to 5 January (Daily Nation, 24th December 2009).
In his Christmas message, The Police Commissioner regretted that most road accidents in Kenya can be avoided (even eliminated). He noted that road accidents are mainly caused by carelessness (human error and poor judgement) by road users. He singled out over-speeding, over-loading, none use of the safety belts and disregard of the Highway Code as the most abused traffic rules today. In his widely televised message, he issued a warning to careless drivers and directs the traffic police (blue boys) to act on those that abuse the traffic rules.
Such a road safety crackdown is not new in the 46-year old post- independence Kenya. But those actions should be strengthened and be made into routine practices that have a longer timeframe enabling one to build the much needed sustainability.
It’s a widely known fact worldwide that road
Bibliography: It’s a widely known fact worldwide that road accidents cost huge amount of money let alone the lost human resources especially to the developing and undeveloped economies (WHO & World Bank report, 2004). ▪ The global financial cost of road traffic injuries is about 518 billion USD each year (about 2-4% of GDP). Such is cost is equivalent to 50% of the GDP of Africa the continent (Kenya Statistics, 2004). ▪ By 2020, unless action is taken, road traffic injuries are predicted to rise to about 80% in low and middle income countries especially developing countries (WHO and World Bank report, 2004). ▪ Unpredictable business planning Businesses rely on predictable business environment to remain profitable and continue with their operations (Kumar & Subramanian, 2000, p.1)