NTSA seeks more details on driving school instructors

Driving schools are now required to provide details of instructors trained under the new curriculum in the National Transport and Safety Authority’s (NTSA) latest attempt to curb road carnage.

The new curriculum unveiled in January has several modules and is designed to address the different needs of drivers depending on the vehicles they use.

The NTSA now requires driving schools to provide the instructor-student ratio as well as the tutor’s schemes of work from January.

“The objective of this exercise is to address the current high rate road traffic crashes attributed to the incompetence of drivers,” said director-general Francis Meja in a notice.

The NTSA has directed driving schools to download, fill and submit the vetting forms detailing the highest level of education for instructors by March 20.

The institutions whose branches will be treated as separate entities have also been asked to provide vehicles’ registration numbers, their make, capacities, comprehensive insurance cover and inspection report.

READ: NTSA plans tough safety rules for long-distance PSVs

Other documents required include lease agreements of premises they operate in, a copy of student admission records as well as their attendance register.

“The exercise is also intended to weed out driving schools operating without meeting the set requirements,” said Mr Meja.

The driving schools will be vetted by an interagency task force comprising the NTSA, Interior and Transport ministries as well as the Traffic Police.

According to the NTSA, more than 90 per cent of accidents due to human error.

Kenya is ranked among countries with the worst road safety records globally based on a 2015 World Health Organisation report titled the ‘Global Status on Road Safety’.

Some of the worst road accidents last year occurred near the Salgaa blackspot on the Nakuru-Eldoret road claiming 36 lives.