The December and New Year festive season is here, bringing with it increased travel across the country, most of it by road.
However, with increased travel comes the likelihood of more road accidents. In 2023, more than 300 people died from road carnage during the December and New Year festivities.
Public service vehicles (PSVs), some notorious for overloading and speeding during this period to maximise profits, are among the main culprits.
Data from the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) and traffic police reveal that road fatalities usually increase in December. So dangerous is the festive month that Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has urged Kenyans to drive safely.
udavadi cautions Kenyans to drive safely as this festive season
Rift Valley - Highest number of blackspots
NTSA data also reveals that Rift Valley region has the highest concentration of blackspots with 13 locations identified as hazardous, while North Eastern and Eastern have the least.
Many of Rift Valley's blackspots are on the Nairobi-Nakuru-Eldoret highway, part of the Northern Corridor that connects Kenya to Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi. This route is often crowded with cargo transport vehicles and passenger traffic, creating a deadly mix.
The highway, grimly nicknamed the “Highway to Hell” by some, has recorded 42 fatalities since January 2024.
Other key blackspots include Karai near Naivasha Town where 40 people died in 2017, and Kinungi-Naivasha, Gilgil-Kikopey and the St Mary’s Mbaruk stretch.
Salgaa - Kenya's most notorious blackspot?
Road signs warning of a black spot at the Kibunja-Salgaa stretch on the Nakuru-Eldoret highway.
Photo credit: File
Another notorious area is the Salgaa section , spanning Ngata Bridge to Sachangwan. The more than 20-kilometre Salgaa stretch could easily be termed as the most notorious blackspot in the country, if the number of road accidents that have happened here is anything to go by.
On August 20, 2024, 13 people died at the Salgaa blackspot on the Nakuru-Eldoret highway. A bus lost control and rammed into a Toyota Passo before hitting a culvert and landing in a ditch.
To mitigate road carnage on this stretch of road, a temporary concrete barrier was constructed by a Chinese firm. The wall that only covers a part of the road has seen a decline in the number of accidents.
But the Ngata Bridge-Sobea-Salgaa stretch, which is not covered by the wall, is now the new accident blackspot. Here death is just a slip away.
Statistics from the local Traffic Accident department show that the Sobea-Salgaa section claims at least five lives every month. Head-on collisions and hit-and-run accidents caused by careless are common.
“The landscape between Ngata-Sobea and Salgaa stretch is relatively flat. This kind of terrain gives motorists an easy time driving...making it possibile to lose concentration as one drives,” said Charles Ombati, a first responder at crash scenes along the route.
“Most of the accidents occur at night and are attributed to human error - speeding and overtaking,” he added.
Other blackspots in the southern Rift are May Summit-Londiani, Timboroa-Makutano, and Pinyiny hills on the Narok-Maai Mahiu road. The Bomet-Narok road alone has claimed over 15 lives since the year began. On January 9, some 15 people died and over 30 people were left nursing injuries in an accident at Twin Bridge near Mau Summit.
At the Olonin bridge blackspot on the Bomet-Narok road, six people died on December 15, 2024.
Thika superhighway, Outering and Kangundo
A section of Thika Superhighway.
Photo credit: File| Nation Media Group
In Nairobi, the 50-kilometre Thika superhighway is ranked one of the the most dangerous roads, recording 13 fatalities between January and April 2024. Outering Road and Kangundo Road follow closely, each claiming 12 lives as pedestrians often risk crossing roads without using footbridges, a significant factor in urban road accidents.
Data captured by NTSA between January 1 and April 30, 2024, reveals that Nairobi recorded 176 fatalities from road crashes, out of 1,554 nationwide, with Thika Superhighway alone claiming the lives of 13 people.
NTSA has not released data on killer roads for the remainder of the year. But Outering Road has also been making headlines with the number of accidents between 2018 and 2019. In June 2018, NTSA ranked Nairobi’s Outering Road as the most dangerous highway in the city. In August 2019, it came second after Mombasa Road as the deadliest road in Nairobi.
The NTSA 2024 data ranked Waiyaki Way as the third spot riskiest, accounting for 10 deaths in the period under review, with Kangemi flyover listed as a blackspot. Meanwhile, users of Jogoo Road face the greatest risk at Maziwa Stage.
Eastern bypass, Juja, and Ngong roads come in fourth, with the report showing seven people perished on the road over the same period.
Notably, NTSA data ranks Kamukunji’s Mohamed Yusuf Haji Avenue among five roads with the least number of road crash fatalities, with one case each. The others are Zimmerman, Wanyie, Wundanyi, and Masimba roads.
Nithi Bridge - Mount Kenya region's most dangerous blackspot
The Nithi Bridge, a blackspot, has visited agony on many families in the country.
Photo credit: File
In the Mount Kenya region, Nithi Bridge on the Meru-Embu road is the most dangerous blackspot and has claimed lives since its commissioning in 1985.
In September 2024, a head-on collision between a 10-seater van and pickup truck, killing 12 people. The accident came after two others that claimed more than 10 lives earlier in the year.
Other blackspots in the region include the Kiganjo-u stretch on Nyeri-Narumoru Road and Limuru-Uplands section. Thika Blue Post-Sagana Bridge Road, Mlima Swara on the Nyeri-Nairobi highway, Kianugu section on Nyahururu Road and the Kiambu–Muthaiga Road are some of the other killer roads in the region.
In Nyanza, hotspots such as Awasi on the Kisumu-Kericho highway, Kiboswa on Kisumu-Kakamega road, and Daraja Mbili in Kisii continue to record accidents.
At the Coast, the common blackspots on the Mombasa-Nairobi highway include the Maungu-Voi stretch, Mazeras-Miritini, and sections of the Mombasa-Nairobi highway, such as Chumvi, Salama - Sultan Hamud Road Section when descending Mlima Kiu, Mtito to Tsavo River Stretch.
Others according to NTSA are Jiwe Tanga in Malindi, Waa area on the Kwale -Matuga junction and Navy Junction (Mtongwe Junction) along the Lunga Lunga -Likoni road.
Eastern region and North Eastern - Among the safest
The Eastern region is among the safest in the country in terms of road carnage. However, it still has dangerous spots and transport routes such as the Machakos-Wamunyu Road Section, Kithangathini at Machakos, Wamunyu road, Mlololongo-Small World Club Junction, Namanga and Mto wa Mawe bridge.
