Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary James Macharia with National Transport and Safety Authority chairman Lee Kinyanjui during the commissioning of patrol cars from the Treasury, March 21, 2016.
BY NAIROBI TIMES CORESPONDENT.
The government plans to remove all zebra crossings and bumps with the aim of reducing road accidents.
Through the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, the state is working on an elaborate plan that will see the removal of zebra crossings and bumps on all major highways in Nairobi County.
The move is aimed at minimizing road carnage in the city.
The removal project will cost Sh300 million, said Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia.
Macharia said reckless matatu drivers have turned bumps and pedestrian crossings into passenger pick-up and drop-off points leading to accidents.
“These matatus have to be stopped by all means. Common sense dictates that you keep left while on the road, but you see a driver on the inner lane and wonder where they took their driving lessons,” he said.
Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said that his ministry will instead construct foot bridges in the affected areas to enable pedestrians’ have alternative ways of crossing the highways.
CS Macharia also said the Ministry is also reviewing the transport decree through inclusion and enforcement of stringent traffic rules alongside implementing the existing laws to foster discipline on roads.
While addressing journalists today at Uhuru Park during the flagging off of 45 vehicles to be used by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) in enforcing traffic regulations on roads, Macharia said his office is working in collaboration with the Judiciary and the office of Director of Public Prosecutions to have drivers who violate the law face stiff penalties.
In reference to the recent road carnage in Awasi along the Kisumu-Kericho highway in which at least six Kindergarten children perished, the Cabinet Secretary categorically called on law enforcement agencies to have the driver charged in court.
The children who perished were walking home from school on Tuesday last week when the driver who was headed to Awasi from Ahero lost control and veered off the road killing the kids.
NTSA Chairperson Lee Kinyanjui said the vehicles will be staged at key highways and have special devices among them the speed gun which is able to detect motorists who over speed on roads.
“The vehicles are also fitted with electronic gadgets which detect drivers in possession of fake documents,” added Kinyanjui.
Out of the 45 vehicles, five are ambulances which will be staged at high incident prone areas to ensure that those involved in road accidents are rushed to hospital immediately.
The NTSA Chair has also urged motorists to adhere by the established traffic regulations, reiterating that who will be found to have violated the law will be prosecuted.
This comes even as statistics at NTSA indicate that approximately 708 Kenyans have lost their lives in this year, a figure that represents a 19 percent increase in road fatalities as compared to those recorded the same time last year.
Present at the event were transport Principal Secretary Wilson Nyakera Irungu, NTSA Director General Francis Meja and other senior government officials.
