JH-IIRU Team Members Join Bloomberg Philanthropies in Kenya

JH-IIRU Associate Directors, Kent Stevens and Abdul Bachani, along with post doctoral fellow, Fatima Paruk, are in Nairobi, Kenya this week as part of a series of high-level meetings as part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Road Safety Program.

More than 3000 people die each year in Kenya as the result of road traffic crashes.  JH-IIRU, as part of the Global Road Safety Program, is working in two districts, Thika and Naivasha, to monitor and evaluate two major risk factors, helmet-wearing and speeding.

Research suggests that properly wearing a helmet can reduce the risk of head injury by nearly 70% and death by more than 40%. Research has also shown that an increase in average speed is directly related to both the likelihood of a crash and the severity of the consequences.

While in Nairobi, the JH-IIRU team will take part in the launch of a national speed prevention campaign, “Slow Down, Speed Kills.” The campaign, part of a joint collaboration with Global Road Safety Program consortium partner, the World Health Organization,  as well as The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Transport, includes radio messaging and outdoor adverts on billboards. The aim is to raise awareness among motorists of the risks and consequences of speeding.

JH-IIRU’s work in Thika and Naivasha, as part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Road Safety Program, shows that there has been a substantial increase in speed compliance. In Thika, speed compliance increased from 42% in June 2011 to 71% in June 2013, while the increase in Naivasha was from 50% to 77% for the same time frame. However, large vehicles, like matatus and buses and light trucks remain the least compliant in both districts.

The launch is part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Road Safety Program. Click here for an infographic on the work the Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Road Safety Program constortium partners have been doing in Kenya.