Beyond the crash: Road safety journalism fellowship

Beyond the crash, a fellowship program for Kenyan print and broadcast journalists builds their skills in writing knowledgably and mindfully about road safety. The journalists are accompanied step by step as they report on: the country’s traffic laws and regulations, better enforcement and road safety management.

Ten fellows will track the road safety story over a three month period. They will examine data from sources such as the WHO, Kenya’s the Ministries of Health and Transport, the National Transport and safety Authority (NTSA), groups dealing with people with disabilities, and other sources. They will also be encouraged to tell the people story: many hundreds of people needlessly lose their lives or are injured. There are also those who need to buy into safer road behaviors.

Along with the massive increase in traffic in Kenya, the death toll on the country’s roads has steadily increased over the last 40 years. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Status report on Road Safety for 2013 estimates that more than 8,000 people are killed on Kenyan roads every year. According to the WHO, crash-related injuries number in the tens of thousands. The majority of those killed are pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, with speed being a major contributing factor. Deaths and injuries are also often linked to the lack of safety equipment such as helmets and safety restraints.

Traffic Crashes: Reporting on Road Safety as a Global Health Crisis