Why Red Cross wants urban speed limit cut to 30km/h
The Kenya Red Cross is pushing for sweeping changes to the country’s speed limits, including cutting the maximum speed in urban areas from 50km/h to 30km/h, as rising road crashes continue to claim lives and expose gaps in road safety enforcement.
Through its International Centre for Humanitarian Affairs, the humanitarian organisation is seeking amendments to Section 42(3A) of the Traffic Act to introduce a 30km/h limit in areas where vehicles share the road with vulnerable road users.
The proposal targets residential areas, health facilities, public playgrounds, highly built-up areas, Central Business Districts and other locations with high concentrations of pedestrians and other non-motorised road users.
Under the current law, Section 42(3A) prohibits drivers from exceeding 50km/h on roads within the boundaries of a trading centre, township, municipality or city. The Red Cross argues that the blanket limit is too high for some urban environments and is pushing for a more targeted approach based on the risks faced by pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users.
At a roundtable with journalists, the organisation said its proposals were informed by the Safe System Approach, which recognises that road users will make mistakes and seeks to ensure that such mistakes do not result in death or serious injury.
Kenya Red Cross policy and advocacy specialist on road safety Natasha Lulia said speed management was central to creating safer roads.
“Higher travel speed means less time to react, longer stopping distances, higher impact speeds and greater crash energy, resulting in a higher probability of death or serious injury,” Ms Lulia said.
She said a one per cent increase in average speed is associated with a four per cent increase in fatal crash risk and a three per cent increase in serious crash risk.
“If speed determines both whether a crash can be avoided and how severe it becomes, the next question is what speed can the road environment safely tolerate?” Ms Lulia said.
The organisation is also proposing a maximum speed of 20km/h on public streets, particularly in areas where pedestrians and vehicles frequently interact.
The proposals come against the backdrop of worsening road safety indicators. Kenya Red Cross data shows that reported road crashes increased from 8,919 in 2020 to 11,638 in 2025, while serious injuries rose from 8,026 to 11,648 during the same period.
The organisation cited Kenya National Bureau of Statistics data showing that road crashes cost the Kenyan economy about Sh1.36 trillion annually, equivalent to 8.2 per cent of gross domestic product.
Data from the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) shows that by June 15, 2026, at least 2,150 people had died in road crashes. Pedestrians accounted for 836 deaths, or 39 per cent, making them the most affected category of road users.
For the Red Cross, the figures raise questions about whether the current speed limits, road designs and enforcement mechanisms are adequate for the changing nature of Kenya’s urban centres.
The organisation is proposing a five-kilometre-per-hour tolerance margin above prescribed speed limits before a speeding offence is committed, alongside stricter controls in high-risk areas.
It also wants a maximum speed of 90km/h between 8pm and 5am during wet weather and other prescribed conditions such as heavy rainfall and fog.
The proposal further seeks to give county governments express authority to lower speed limits on roads under their mandate, allowing restrictions to be tailored to local conditions and accident risks.
The Red Cross is also calling for wider use of electronic traffic-management systems by the police, road authorities and NTSA to strengthen compliance and enforcement.
