The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) on Wednesday handed over road safety enhancement equipment to the National Police Service, in a show of collaboration to promote road safety. Earlier this year, President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered NTSA off the roads and handed over the traffic mandate to the traffic department.
Speaking at the function in Upper Hill, Nairobi, Inspector General of police Joseph Boinnet assured NTSA that the equipment, which include motorcycles and breathalyzers, will be put to good use, dispelling the notion that NTSA’s presence off the roads had created a pass to break traffic laws. Boinnet said many accidents witnessed can’t be described as such based on how drivers and motorists behave on the roads.
He noted that traffic regulations are meant to benefit motorists, including motorists wearing helmets, “It’s not for the sake of anybody else, it’s for your own personal interest. Many fatalities we witness happen because riders and passengers didn’t have a helmet,” he said.
NTSA board chairman Lt Gen(Rtd) Jackson Waweru said road safety still poses a major challenge to Kenya as 5 percent of Kenya’s GDP, equating to around Kshs 310 billion is the cost of road carnage. “Many families are driven to poverty and devastation as they grapple with the loss of breadwinners and loved ones to accidents,” he said, adding that most victims are aged between 15 and 44 years.
The chairman noted that road user behaviour has been identified as the leading contributor to accidents, “Road indiscipline and a lack of compliance with traffic laws has been very poor leading to serious traffic congestion and high rate of fatalities and injuries,” he said. Overspeeding, reckless driving, dangerous overtaking, drink driving, overloading vehicles and fatigue were cited as some unworthy road behaviour leading to accidents.