JH-IIRU and Vital Strategies Launch Road Safety Reports at BIGRS Partner Meetings in East Africa

The Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit (JH-IIRU) was honored to join Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS) partners for the January 2025 road safety country meetings in Nairobi and Mombasa, Kenya, and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. As part of these meetings—which included panel discussions, presentations, and site visits—JH-IIRU launched two BIGRS-supported Status Summary 2024: Road Safety Risk Factors reports, one for Mombasa and Addis Ababa, respectively. Additionally, Vital Strategies presented a report on road safety mortality trends in Mombasa  

Jointly developed with the Addis Ababa University, Innologic Solutions, Vital Strategies, and local stakeholders, these reports provide a comprehensive analysis of speeding as a key risk factor, offering in-depth data and context-specific recommendations for road safety interventions. 

In Addis Ababa, key findings showed that 44%—nearly two out of five—of observed vehicles exceeded the enforced speed limit. In Mombasa, 1 in 4 or 23% of the observed vehicles were speeding, with heavy vehicles being the common type. These results emphasize the need for sustained and multifaceted efforts in both cities. 

“We’ve been closely monitoring the data, and today we’ve released two timely reports for Mombasa County highlighting the road safety situation,” said Dr. Abdulgafoor Bachani, Director of JH-IIRU, during the release of the Mombasa reports. “One that looks at the numbers of crashes, deaths, and injuries, and one that looks at the risk factors that are leading to exposure to risk for these crashes, deaths, and injuries. What we found here is that speed is a major concern.”  

This concern is reinforced by global evidence. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), higher speeds elevate the risk of crashes and the severity of injuries. A 1 km/h increase in average speed leads to a 3% rise in injury crashes and a 4–5% rise in fatal crashes.¹ 

Given the clear impact of speed on crash severity, addressing speeding as a major road safety risk factor requires a multifaceted approach. By enhancing enforcement, coordinating mass media campaigns, and implementing pertinent infrastructural interventions, we can keep making solid progress toward safer roads.