How can we categorize the causes of Road Traffic Accidents in urban Africa? I utilize a case study from Kenya in this presentation to a graduate class on DRR. The role digital systems can play in mitigating risks is also discussed.

1. DRR from Urban Africa
Road Traffic Accidents as an Everyday Hazard: Kisii and Kisumu, Kenya
Charis Asante-Agyei
3/17/18

2. Tripartite Structure
Urbanization and the linkages between risk accumulation and disasters
Public Perception and policy responses to risks
Status of vulnerability

3. Urbanization
Informal settlements arising as a result of rapid urbanization with simultaneous
deterioration in institutional and physical infrastructure
Kenya’s Growth Centers explained using the Growth Pole Theory_NMK
(Nairobi is the metropole, Mombasa and Kisumu are major urban centers)
Growth policy of government failed to relieve pressure on NMK
Reasons include: Lack of data to choose “other urban centers”
Lower perceived economic opportunities in “other urban areas”

4. KISUMU’S LOCATION IN KENYA

5. Disasters in Kenya: Kisumu
Top-Down Development process
National Disaster Operation Center (NDOC) set up in 1997 after El-Niño floods
Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) remain an everyday hazard (Stats here)
62% of reported crashes in 1998 are public transport vehicles
Vulnerable groups include young men and school children

6. Traffic Amendment Act of 2003
There’s a slight
drop which
rebounds
quickly into an
upward trend.
Act succeeds in
checking
overloading in
Public Vehicles.

7. Vulnerability

8. Public Perception & Policy Responses
Environmental Causes
Mechanical/Vehicular Causes
Behavioral Causes

9. Mostly weather-related
● Landslides reducing road size
● Mist reducing visibility
● Rain reducing friction coefficient
● Excessive heat causing tire
malfunction
Environmental Causes

10. Actions of road users
● Intoxication
● Unqualified driving
● Excessive speeding
● Lack of road signs
● Lack of speed bumps
Behavioral Causes

11. Vehicle condition
● Unroadworthy vehicles
● Faulty brakes
● Tampering with speedometers
● Worn-out tires
Mechanical Causes

12. Insights
Drivers simply use seatbelts to avoid litigation rather than as a logical thing to do.
The behavior may have changed but the underlying values haven’t.
Corruption of traffic police makes laws unenforceable.
Propose use of RTA statistics into billboards to increase risk awareness. But does
this cognitive fix work?
Health centers lack computerized data management making research difficult.
Same goes for policy recommendation.
Matatus are privately-owned and thus there are many on the roads, causing
congestion and competition which puts lives at risk.

13. Digital Matatus Open Dataset