Nairobi’s Outering Road has been named one of the most unsafe roads in the world during the just concluded United Nations (UN) meeting on Global Road Safety held in New York.
Discussions on the road was started by World Resources Institute (WRI) Director on Road Safety, Claudia Adriazola-Steil, who highlighted the number of Kenyans who had lost their lives on the 13-kilometre road.
In particular, the road was benchmarked for the high casualty rate for pedestrians.
“There was an investment in a highway, an urban highway named Outering in Nairobi. In the first nine months of 2021, it had been the most dangerous road in the city with very many fatalities. Ninety per cent of them were pedestrians,” she stated.
She explained that many countries were engaging in big infrastructural developments without considering the security of pedestrians during the construction phase.
The discussion saw stakeholders suggest various ways through which road safety could be enhanced globally such as the construction of pedestrian pathways and enforcement of speed limits.
“The thing is that we are killing people and adding more motorists. What most countries should ask is whether they are making the right investments.
“Governments should call on private companies to include road safety in their sustainability plans,” Steil added.
Steil’s statements were in reference to data from the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) which indicated that 37 people lost their lives from January – October 2021 on Outering Road.
The road emerged as the deadliest road in Nairobi followed by Thika Superhighway and Mombasa Road.
Outering Road, which is 13 kilometres in length – was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2015 and was constructed at an estimated cost of Ksh8.5 billion.
In 2021, 4,264 Kenyans lost their lives in accidents with an addition of 1,968 losing their lives through road carnages by June this year.
In 2020, Chiromo road was ranked the 5th most dangerous road in the world. In the report, data showed that the road had a death rate of about 11.5 deaths per 16 kms.
Source: kENYANS.CO.KE
