Road Safety Week Image Courtesy of NTSA

Distracted driving is a leading cause of road accidents across the globe. The most common cause of distractive driving is the use of mobile phones while driving; talking on a phone, texting and browsing social media platforms and now with the popularity of vlogging in Kenya, vlogging has become an addition to the list of distracted driving.

A good number of vloggers in the country have made it a trend to vlog while driving and even more alarming is that some of them do it along busy highways, you just need to watch a few clips from some of Kenya’s top vloggers to see how deeply rooted the vice is. I have personally lost count of the number of times I have steeped on imaginary breaks or got on the edge of my seat while watching some youtube videos from some of my favourite local vloggers.

Although talking on the phone while driving in Kenya is a traffic offence, vlogging while driving is not criminalized per se and i think with the changing dynamics of urbanization and development, it’s high time authorities paid attention to some of these urban trends when it comes to curbing road carnage.

Vlogging while driving not only risks the life of the vlogger but that of other road users as well.

In 2018, the National Transport Authority (NTSA) ran a sensitization campaign against distractive driving under the hashtag #WekaKando

“Using your phone to talk, text, check maps or choose a playlist while you are behind the wheel all count as Distracted Driving. Be a safe, responsible driver. Put down your phone while driving #WekaKando”.

Distracted Driving

Distracted driving is driving while doing another activity that takes your attention away from driving. Distracted driving can increase the chance of a motor vehicle crash.

There are three main types of distraction:

• Visual: taking your eyes off the road
• Manual: taking your hands off the wheel
• Cognitive: taking your mind off driving

Road Carnage in Kenya

Road accidents in Kenya continue to be on the rise. According to statistics, between 3000 and 13, 000 Kenyans lose their lives in road traffic crashes every year.

Road Safety Week

As the 6th UN Global Road Safety Week kicks off today, we hope that local authorities will pay attention to this vice and not wait until more lives are lost on our roads before they can act.

The UN Global Road Safety Week road safety week will run from 17^th May until  23^rd May 2021.

The Week seeks to garner policy commitments at national and local levels to deliver 30 km/h speed limits in urban areas; to generate local support for such low-speed measures, and to build momentum towards the launch of the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030.