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Zusha! Matatu Road Safety Campaign (Kenya)

Kenya, East Africa

Zusha! ("Protest!" in Swahili) is an award-winning road safety campaign that empowers passengers of Kenya's matatu minibuses to speak up against reckless driving. Evocative stickers placed inside vehicles encourage collective action. A rigorous randomized evaluation of 11,737 matatus (2011-2013) demonstrated remarkable results: 25-32% reduction in insurance claims, 1 km/h decrease in average speed, an estimated 140 fewer road accidents and 55 lives saved annually. Cost-effectiveness was exceptional at US$10-45 per disability-adjusted life-year saved. Stickers with images (car crashes, passengers reproaching drivers) outperformed text-only messages. The campaign scaled nationwide in 2015 and expanded to Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda.

Behavior Goal

Empower passengers to verbally challenge reckless driving; reduce speeding and dangerous driving behaviors among matatu drivers; shift social norms around acceptable driving behavior

Target Audiences

General Population

Implementers & Partners

  • Georgetown University Initiative on Innovation, Development and Evaluation (gui2de)
  • National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA)
  • National Road Safety Trust (NRST)

Donors & Sponsors

  • Private foundations
  • Research grants

Key Takeaways

  • 1Visual stickers with images more effective than text-only messages
  • 2Collective action messaging ("Unity is power") most effective at reducing claims
  • 3Passenger empowerment can influence driver behavior through social pressure
  • 4Low-cost intervention ($18/vehicle/year) achieves remarkable cost-effectiveness
  • 5Randomized evaluation enables confident attribution of impact

Sources

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