Economy

NTSA to deploy more speed guns, Alcoblow over holidays

NTSA

A policeman targets speeding motorists along the Nyeri-Nanyuki highway in August. PHOTO | FILE

The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has ordered more speed guns and breathalysers as it prepares to step up its crackdown on errant motorists during the festive season.

The agency said it expects to receive the equipment next week for use on strategic road sections as the Christmas break begins.

“We are acquiring more equipment to detect those who are drinking and driving during the day and at night,” NTSA director general Francis Meja said.

The controversial breathalysers have been in use for the last one year, in a period that Mr Meja said saw over 4,000 drunk drivers arrested and taken to court. He added that they are erecting more speed signs in urban areas beyond Nairobi to support the use of the additional speed guns.

During a meeting with divisional traffic enforcement officers, Mr Meja instructed them to intensify surveillance on pedestrian crossings especially along highways as they contribute to 46 per cent of road fatalities.

Transport secretary Michael Kamau said they have set a target of 10 per cent reduction in road deaths this year. As of Wednesday, 2,771 people had died on the roads compared to 3,051 over a similar period in 2013, a nine per cent drop.

READ: 4,000 charged with drunk driving in road safety crackdown

Mr Kamau said they had seen a steady decline in road deaths until the mobile courts that dispensed instant justice to traffic offenders were withdrawn. He said they intend to hold talks with the Chief Justice early next year over reinstatement of the courts.

Meanwhile, traffic police officers will now be able to query a database to determine the validity of inspection stickers on commercial vehicles.

Transport principal secretary Nduva Muli said that enforcement officers on the ground have had a hard time identifying false stickers but will now be able to do so using their phones.

“The new stickers are smart stickers because apart from the fact that it’s placed on the vehicle, it has a barcode to help confirm its authenticity,” he said.