An Assessment of socially responsible behaviour of motorists in Kenya

Abstract

Road accidents are a major challenge globally and a cause of social and economic losses both in developed and developing countries. In Kenya close to 3,000 people die every year in road accidents, and the trend in recent years shows that the number is on the rise. Implementation of road safety initiatives in Kenya is skewed towards authoritative enforcement of rules and the associated punishments intended to motivate adherence and deter ‘deviant’ behaviour by motorists. An approach to road safety where the motorist’s actions are guided purely by the law is however inherently limited by the finite presence of law enforcers on the roads. The purpose of the study was to investigate the relevance of Socially Responsible Behaviour (SRB) and virtue as a complement to the existing road safety efforts in Kenya, and how these could influence motorists’ adherence to road safety requirements. Data was collected from motorists using a mixed methodology, with both quantitative surveys and in-depth qualitative interviews to investigate the perceptions to dimensions such as personal responsibility, intrinsic motivation and the impact of an individual’s actions on the society. The outcomes of the study shed light on the applicability of a virtue-based approach towards road safety, and may be used by policy makers in the transport sector to integrate into the existing road safety framework.