Road Safety Knowledge and Practices amongst Pedestrians on Thika Super Highway, Nairobi County

Abstract

Road traffic injuries are a major but neglected public health challenge that requires concerted efforts for effective and sustainable prevention. Of all the systems with which people have to deal with every day, road traffic systems are the most complex and the most dangerous. Worldwide, an estimated 1.35 million people are killed in road crashes each year and as many as 50 million are injured. Projections indicate that these figures will continue to increase unless there is new commitment to prevention. The main objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and practice of road safety amongst pedestrians on Thika Super Highway, Nairobi County. This study used a cross-sectional descriptive design. The study population was pedestrians using Nairobi-Thika Super Highway. Convenience sampling method was used to select points along Thika Super Highway with high populations of pedestrians. The sample size was 350 pedestrians. Interviewer administered questionnaires and Key informant guide were used to gather information from pedestrians. Secondary data was obtained from Accident Records from both the traffic police and hospital departments to determine the situation of road accidents. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used. Responses from structured questionnaire were coded and entered into the Statistical Package for Social Science- SPSS for analysis. The study found that sex and the level of education attained by respondents had significant correlations with the knowledge of road safety practices. It was found that 92.7% of the female respondents had learnt road safety practices while 95.3% of male respondents had learnt the same. The proportion of female respondents who had learnt road safety practices was higher than that of male respondents by about 3%. This difference although small warrants more research to assess knowledge differentials between males and females as well as exposure differences to road traffic injuries. The study recommends need to involve all road users in making policies and enhance collaborations in ensuring safety on Kenyan roads. Furthermore, more resources need to be pooled towards equipping health facilities along Thika Super Highway to improve on the handling capacity of accident victims.