Kenyans should start seeing a drop in road accidents, which took the lives of 60 people last month, once a crackdown on vehicles is launched in two weeks.
Targeted are passenger service vehicles that carry extra people and have no speed governors and motorists who are under the influence of alcohol, to keep down the number of road carnage which, statistics show, peaks in the December holiday season.
The crackdown will also target government vehicles and those belonging to parastatals. Their drivers will be required to produce work tickets to ensure no one makes unauthorised journeys.
Traffic commandant James Adoli said on Sunday that the operation would focus on highways. He said past statistics showed accidents increased during holidays.
“As we approach the December holiday, we shall ensure road signs are observed, motorists do not drive under the influence of alcohol and public service vehicles are fitted with functioning speed governors,” Mr Adoli said.
Mr Adoli urged all road users to be careful during the holiday season, adding, those who would be found contravening traffic rules would be prosecuted.
“We are launching a national patrol network in two weeks time” he said on phone. “Right now, I am on my way to Malaba to check that road blocks are placed on specific points”.
The officer warned wananchi against boarding overloaded vehicles as this was a risk in case of accidents.
The Ministry of Transport and the Transport Licensing Board (TLB) announced last week that the campaign would go on as long as Kenyan drivers did not change their attitudes.
The need for discipline in the country’s road transport system has also been supported by matatu owners.
Transport permanent secretary Adan Ali said that most public service vehicles are being operated in complete disregard of the law. He said that this had resulted in an increase of road accidents in the last couple of months.
“Many public service vehicles currently operate without speed governors and are kept in poor mechanical conditions,” Mr Ali said in a speech read on his behalf by the roads secretary in the Ministry of Transport, Mr Philip Langat.
Mr Langat was speaking at a safety consultative meeting organised by the TLB. The meeting brought together various PSV operators and government officials.
Mr Langat said that the Government had launched a road safety campaign ahead of the festive season. The campaign will involve documentaries on TV and radio in the coming weeks.
He, however, expressed concern over the roadworthiness of many of the PSVs, noting that some were not being inspected.
TLB chairman Wilfred ole Legei said inspection of PSVs that have been involved in accidents recently showed that most of them had their speed governors tampered with.
“Matatu owners should know that most of their vehicles especially those covering long distances do not have speed governors. Most of them have been fitted with a switch that puts the gadgets on and off,” Mr Legei said.
Overloading, over-speeding and reckless driving had become the order of the day on Kenyan roads, he said, adding, TLB had suspended close to 700 licenses in the past month for PSVs that had failed to comply with the law.
Matatu Owners Association boss Simon Kimutai said it was the responsibility of all Kenyans to ensure road safety.
In his speech, the transport PS also said that the National Road Safety Council was now constituted and was soon expected to give direction on road safety matters.
He said the findings of a survey being conducted by the ministry and the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) would be released soon.
