Road Traffic Injuries in Kenya: The Health Burden and Risk Factors in Two Districts

Figures & data

Table I National road traffic injury rates (per 100,000 population) by road user type in Kenya (2004–2009)

	Road user type
	Drivers		Motorcyclists		Pedalcyclists		Passengers		Pillion passengers		Pedestrians
Year	Injury	Fatality	Injury	Fatality	Injury	Fatality	Injury	Fatality	Injury	Fatality	Injury	Fatality
2004	4.65	0.70	1.23	0.15	5.21	0.88	26.83	1.75	2.83	0.24	12.59	2.77
2005	4.83	0.70	1.14	0.12	5.91	1.70	27.21	1.64	3.44	0.27	13.99	3.47
2006	5.00	0.79	1.04	0.09	5.44	0.84	28.59	1.98	2.94	0.27	12.87	3.41
2007	5.21	0.72	1.18	0.09	4.12	0.73	32.44	2.26	2.83	0.30	14.26	3.63
2008	4.61	0.84	1.81	0.29	4.33	0.91	29.15	1.74	1.77	0.17	13.46	4.20
2009	5.04	1.09	3.63	0.66	4.51	0.81	28.17	2.60	3.60	0.56	12.00	4.41
Source: Kenya Traffic Police Department (2009).

Table II Annual rates (per 100,000) of road traffic injuries and fatalities in Kenya by province (2007–2009)

		2007		2008		2009
Provinces	Population	Injury	Fatality	Injury	Fatality	Injury	Fatality
Nairobi	3,138,369.00	146.19	18.61	134.72	19.40	121.02	18.51
Central	4,383,743.00	86.71	12.80	69.51	9.42	53.70	8.67
Coast	3,325,307.00	93.68	9.53	75.18	7.67	83.93	10.34
Eastern	5,668,123.00	56.81	6.46	56.70	7.83	45.75	7.69
North Eastern	2,310,757.00	3.76	0.65	3.72	0.78	2.08	0.65
Nyanza	5,442,711.00	51.59	6.21	45.00	5.86	46.26	3.58
Rift Valley	10,006,805.00	35.43	5.37	37.48	4.62	44.82	8.08
Western	4,334,282.00	35.44	4.78	36.02	5.51	35.21	5.17
National	38,610,097.00	60.11	2.37	55.12	8.15	56.96	10.13
Source: Kenya Traffic Police Department (2009) and Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (2009).

Figure 1 Distribution of registered deaths due to road traffic injuries Kenya by age and sex (2006). Source: Kenya Department of Civil Registration (2006).

Table III Risk factor data in Thika and Naivasha districts of Kenya (2010)

	Thika			Naivasha
	N = 3075			N = 3143
	%		(Min, Max)	%		(Min, Max)
A. Helmet, reflective jacket, and headlamp use
Drivers correctly wearing helmet*	30.37		(25.27, 35.61)	21.29		(15.05, 31.58)
Passengers wearing helmets*	4.06		(2.39, 5.23)	2.61		(0.92, 6.07)
Drivers wearing reflective clothing*	24.85		(20.20, 28.49)	63.22		(60.3, 67.31)
Passengers wearing reflective clothing	1.27		(0.00, 4.24)	1.27		(0.88, 2.12)
Motorcyclists using headlamp*	23.67		(16.42, 38.38)	17.15		(8.43, 31.44)
Vehicle type ^a	N	%	(Min, Max)	N	%	(Min, Max)
B. Speeding
Total*	2275	69.45	(63.21, 76.26)	1252	34.32	(29.45, 40.00)
Saloon car	704	34.38	(27.48, 38.74)	470	11.70	(6.94, 14.81)
Light truck*	272	95.59	(93.98, 98.00)	77	80.52	(72.73, 87.50)
Large truck*	346	80.06	(73.91, 96.97)	182	54.95	(43.18, 64.44)
Bus*	116	71.55	(53.85, 88.00)	53	39.62	(11.11, 61.90)
Matatu*	771	88.59	(81.10, 95.45)	294	52.72	(41.33, 61.43)
SUV*	62	53.23	(7.14, 91.67)	166	18.67	(13.33, 28.00)
Other	4	50.00	(0.00, 100.00)	10	60.00	(30.00, 100.00)
^a Speed limits (km/h): saloon car, 110; light truck, 65; large truck, 65; bus, 80; matatu, 80; SUV, 110; other, 80 (National Council for Law Reporting [NCLR] 2009).
*Statistically significant difference (P < .05) between Thika and Naivasha districts.

Figure 2 Distribution of speeding vehicles by km/h over the speed limit in Thika and Naivasha districts in Kenya (2010).