Stalled vehicles are among the causes of road accidents in Kenya, as other vehicles could easily ram into them.
Anyone whose vehicle stalls should notify NTSA through 0718555999 or the police on 999 or 911, the notice says.
Motorists whose vehicles stall on Kenyan roads will have an hour to remove them or they will have to face the police, the National Transport and Safety Authority now says.
NTSA Director-General Francis Meja said if a motorist does not remove a stationary vehicle from the road within an hour, the automobile will be towed to the nearest police station and the owner will have to pay the towing costs.
In a notice in the dailies on Tuesday that is to take effect immediately, Mr Meja said such an action by the police has a legal backing in Section 106(1) of the Traffic Act.
The section gives police the powers to tow vehicles but does not state how long a vehicle can stay before it can be taken away. NTSA’s notice seeks to define the duration.
The Act only prescribes towing when the vehicle is considered abandoned (without stating the duration) or when the owner cannot be found.
“It shall be lawful for any police officer or any inspector to take the vehicle or cause it to be taken to a police station or other place of safety by such method, route and under such conditions as he may consider necessary, having regard to all the circumstances of the case,” says the Act.
It adds: “Any expense incurred thereby shall be payable by the owner of the vehicle, and no such vehicle shall be released from the police station or other place of safety until either: (a) such expenses have been paid to the person to whom they are due; or (b) such person certifies in writing that he is willing to allow the vehicle to be removed before he receives such expenses due to him.”
This may see motorists parting with a fortune to have their vehicles back as there is no evidence of a standard rate charged when police tow vehicles.
Mr Meja, in the notice, said anyone whose vehicle stalls should notify NTSA through 0718555999 or the police on 999 or 911.
“Motorists and motor vehicle owners are advised that immediately upon stalling of a vehicle, cautionary measures are taken to alert other road users,” he said. “The measures include placement of clearly visible legal signage.”
Stalled vehicles are among the causes of road accidents in Kenya.
In August 2013, for instance, a bus rammed a car that had stalled on the road at Mulot Trading Centre along the Bomet-Narok highway, killing six people.
A month later, two people died when their car hit a stationary lorry in the evening at Kiirua on the Meru-Nanyuki road.
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