Road accidents in Kenya claim over 1,500 lives in H1

The number of people killed in road accidents in Kenya rose by 5 percent to over 1,500 in the first of the year, compared to 1,300 who died last year in the same period, traffic police said on Wednesday.

Traffic Police Commandant Charlton Muriithi told journalists in Nairobi that motor cyclists, pedal cyclists and pedestrians are the highest casualties in the accidents. Among them, 655 are pedestrians, 323, passengers, and 206, motor cyclists.

"I wish to urge pedestrians to be attentive while crossing the roads," Muriithi said while releasing traffic statistics for the past six months.

"The number of those killed in the past six months is alarming as it means many dependable people are no longer there and this affects lifestyle at large," Muriithi said.

According to Muriithi, there were more than 1,200 accidents reported since January to June 29 as compared to 1,100 of 2014 in the same period.

Road accidents still continue to occur despite stringiest traffic rules which were introduced by the government to help curb road carnage. Police statistics show there were 2,907 road accident deaths in the country last year.

Muriithi said they will, together with the National Transport and Safety Authority, continue with their operations in a bid to address the menace of accidents. Endi