We Stand Together for Safety, we are so pleased to witness the growing number of people that came together on Sunday to participate in the International World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. Not only are the number of communities participating growing, but we are also seeing greater diversity of organizations collaborating and even more creativity in memorializing those affected and working together for change. We appreciate to the many community members and city leaders across the country who stepped forward to elevate the importance of this preventable health crisis taking 3,000 lives each year in this country.

Pedestrian safety advocates gather in honor of the victims hurt and killed in traffic crashes during the annual World Day of Remembrance for Traffic Victims at Nairobi county government in Kenya on Sunday, November 16, 2014.

The Safedrive Africa Foundation also helped bring greater attention and urgency to the problem of speeding and drink driving which are a factor in nearly one-third of all traffic fatalities. In collaboration with the National Transport Safety Authority, Traffic Police, Emergency responders and other stakeholders, we had role pays, speech from government leaders, concerts presented by Kenya musicians, sensitized the community and counselling of the traffic victims which highlights the speed-related fatalities that occurred in the Kenya. between 2013-2014, all the way down to the actual street location.

On World Day we too pay tribute to the dedicated emergency crews, police and medical professionals, who deal daily with the traumatic aftermath of road crashes

Between 3000 and 13 000 Kenyans lose their lives in road traffic crashes every year. The majority of these people are vulnerable road users’ pedestrians, motorcyclists, and cyclists. In addition, nearly one-third of deaths are among passengers many of whom are killed in unsafe forms of public transportation. According to the recently published WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety, there are no laws for helmet wearing, Blood Alcohol Concentration levels for drivers or child restraints in Kenya and where road safety laws do exist they are poorly enforced. Kenya is one of the ten countries included in the WHO Road Safety in 10 countries project which will be conducted over 5-years by a consortium of six international partners

Victims of fatal car accidents were remembered by friends and family on Sunday,20 Nov 2016 in Kenya participation in World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (WDR).WDR, observed on the third Sunday of November, is an annual day of observance to mourn those who have been killed in traffic accidents and thank first responders for their work.

SDAF WDR ceremony in Kenya allowed victims’ family members and loved to gather together and honor their memory. Family members were provided with a decorated ornament that featured the names of those they had lost in a traffic accident. Survivors of dangerous traffic accidents also voiced their stories while politicians and advocate groups called for reform roadways and traffic safety programs.

“We want to stand together with other families to demonstrate that our loved ones are more than just statistics, and that their deaths should not be considered an acceptable part of our automobile-focused society and streets. Protecting human lives matters, and “saving lives” isn’t just a slogan, it has intense personal impact on tens of thousands of families across the country. Unless you have lost a loved one in the way that we have, you will not know the emotional turmoil that we have experienced and continue to experience every single day. We believe that attitudes, behaviors, street design, and laws need to change, and we need people to realize that every person plays an important part in keeping our streets safe Isaac Mutashi said”

SDAF commemorated the day with a traffic crash victim by lighting candles, for citizens whose lives are gone, where the hospital’s medical director of administration as well as doctors and nurses attended the event. A variety of programs have been implemented at the ceremony, a pledge signing ceremony and a prayer program.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, SDAF Program manager, stressed that the participation of all parties is crucial in reducing the severity of traffic accidents and that citizens need immediate first aid in an emergency respond. Remind the audience and the hospital that it is important to increase the number and scope of ambulance vehicles for emergency treatment in the event of a traffic accident.

Thank you to all of you who helped us make this Memorial Day, and we especially appreciate the support of the National Transport safety Authority, Kenya Police, county government including stakeholders involved.

The project works toward the aims of the Africa Road Safety Observatory, a continent-wide initiative to share knowledge, statistics, and road safety interventions that work. The approach to partnerships and data that LEARN is promoting in Kenya will be evaluated with a view to utilizing it in other African countries.

The UN Decade of Action for Road Safety is a global effort to save 5 million lives on the roads between 2011 and 2020. In September 2015, the United Nations approved the Sustainable Development Goals, or Global Goals, that are guideposts for future development throughout the world. For the first time, the Global Goals include specific targets for improved road safety:

• By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents; and
• By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons.

Globally, more than 500 children every day die from road traffic injuries, with 90 per cent of the fatalities happening in low-and middle-income countries, even though they have fewer cars and roads than the high-income nations.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), in 2015, road injuries were the leading cause of adolescent death among 10–19-year old, resulting in about 115,000 adolescent deaths, with older adolescent boys aged 15–19 years suffering the greatest burden. Most of the children and teens killed in road crashes were pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.

#SaveKidsLives is a worldwide campaign featuring hundreds of events hosted by governments, international agencies, community groups and private companies. SDAF was very proud to make a tangible contribution towards safer road users and to constructively impact the community, we believe this program will contribute positively towards this industry wide problem in a very practical of safedrive Africa Foundation.

SDAF is proud to support the Third UN Global Road Safety Week to help keep children safe on our roads In our Africa region, the goal was to educate 1,000 children in 50 sessions, using the Stop, Look, listen IEC road safety material developed by SDAF. To date, SDAF has trained 2,113 children in 4 groups and we have another 1,000 waiting and that we hope to be able to add soon.

During our campaigns for school children transportation staff made a difference to Support #SaveKidsLives at Breaburn international schools, they signed the Child Declaration for Global Road Safety on the #SaveKidsLives offline with personal’s and asking decision makers to support the movement for road safety, led by children around the world.

We can prevent children from being killed or injured in traffic collisions, and we don’t need costly fixes to do it.

• We already know what works. If we lower speed, increase the use of motorcycle and bike helmets, insist on seat belt use, crack down on drunk driving and reduce distraction, we can save millions of lives. We must pass comprehensive laws and back them up with tough enforcement.
• But we must do more for the next generation. Children are not just small adults; they need special interventions to save their lives, such as correctly used child restraints and safety zones around schools. Now is the time to prioritize children in our response.

Our focus has been to raise awareness to many school bus drivers, school children as possible and to reach out to different regions and other remote rural areas in east Africa. More and more communities have asked for us to come to their children schools.

For this save kids’ lives with road safety project, SDAF worked together with parents, Schools management, Local Authorities, community , other stakeholders to curb road carnage and Emergencies Committees to continues halving road death and serious injuries by 2030 #50by30.The objective this project was to reconstruct the town and support the reactivation of its local economy, life style, education and to offer safe facilities where they could offer health services.