EDITORIAL: Prioritise long-term solutions to road carnage
National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) Director General Francis Meja (left) with Transport and Infrastructure Ministry Principal Secretary Prof Paul Maringa when they appeared before parliamentary committee on Transport on January 17, 2018. PHOTO| DENNIS ONSONGO | NMG
After a spate of fatal accidents in December, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has come up with yet another set of rules and requirements for public transport operators. The NTSA now says public service vehicle (PSV) will not be allowed to operate at night without speed limiters that relay real-time information to the regulatory agency. Checking the speed on a real time basis, the regulator says, will help to instill discipline in PSV drivers and therefore check road carnage.
The NTSA has made similar statements and requirements before, but road carnage has continued to rise.
The requirement to fix new speed limiters will mean motor vehicle owners spending millions of shillings, just as has been the case in past directives.
No amount of money is worth the lives being lost and maimed on Kenyan roads, but there is also a need to evaluate past policy pronouncements before making new ones.
In a show of frustration with the rising number of road accidents, President Uhuru Kenyatta recently ordered a recall of all NTSA officers from Kenyan roads.
Traffic police officers were ordered to take full charge of safety inspection on the highways.
Many would recall, however, that NTSA officers were introduced on the roads after a public outcry over traffic police officers who were accused extorting bribes from Kenyans while not caring about their safety.
The many policy directives coming from different government agencies are perhaps understandable, given the sad loss of life that has caused pain and suffering among many Kenyans.
But the truth of the matter is that knee-jerk reactions will not end death on the highways.
Only a sincere resolve to enforce already existing laws can end the suffering on the roads.
Before withdrawal of the NTSA officers from the roads, it was common knowledge that they were working in close collusion with the police to use road blocks as toll stations for their enrichment.
The NTSA must think both short and long-term if it wants to win the war against road accidents.
Road design and re-design, erection of signage and use of technology to catch traffic offenders should take priority.
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