New rules target commercial vehicles to cut accidents

The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) wants all motor vehicle dealers or assemblers compelled to fit commercial service vehicles with approved speed limiter before selling them.

The NTSA is proposing new rules that commercial service vehicles be fitted with a speed governor conforming to the Kenya Standard KS2295 or one approved by the authority.

The authority has also proposed capping working hours for drivers of commercial service vehicles to eight or a total of 500 kilometers of driving in a period of 24 hours whichever is achieved first.

“No carriers shall request, require or allow a driver to drive and no driver shall drive after they has accumulated eight hours or driving in any period of 24 hours or has driven for a total of 500 kilometers in a period of 24 hours whichever is achieved first,” section 11 of the National Transport and Safety Authority (Operation of Commercial Service Vehicles) Regulations 2016 states.

Owners of commercial service vehicles will require their drivers to take a minimum mandatory rest of one hour for every four hours spent driving.

NTSA said commercial vehicles account for 23 per cent of road accidents yet they are not regulated under any legal regime.

All commercial vehicles will be required to have retro-reflective contour markings that conform to the standard KS1820:2005 that identify as close as possible the entire length and width of the motor vehicle when viewed from the front, side and or rear.

Published new regulations

Those who breach the new requirements commits an offence and are liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding Sh20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both.

NTSA told the National Assembly Transport committee that it had published new regulations that seek to bring commercial vehicles operations under a legal regime.

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“Heavy commercial vehicles are currently operating without a legal regime unlike passenger service vehicles and private cars. Once the draft rules are gazetted, they will be brought under the law,” NTSA director general Francis Meja said.

A draft legal framework to regulate the operations of heavy commercial vehicles will also see owners of trucks pay Sh2,000 annually for license fees, a further Sh1,500 for renewal and Sh1,500 for replacement of a damaged or lost license.

Mr Meja who was accompanied by NTSA chairman Lee Kinyanjui said recent road crashes have been largely due to commercial vehicles.

“We want to put heavy commercial vehicles under a licensing regime. They have been major causes of road accidents and we want to do everything possible to ensure that we minimise road fatalities,” he said.