Nairobi, Kenya, June 9 – The Inspector-General of Police Hillary Mutyambai and the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) Director-General George Njao have directed a joint multi-Agency crackdown to weed out all noncompliant motor vehicles and motorists, who are violating the Traffic Act and related laws.
Police Spokesperson Bruno Shioso said in a statement that the move is informed by the recent spike in accidents across the country.
“The directive takes immediate effect,” Shioso said Wednesday.
He singled out a recent crash involving a Nairobi-bound which was ferrying passengers from Garissa which occurred along Thika Mwingi Road with a saloon car which left seven passengers dead and injured five.
The police Spokesperson called on motorists and road users to exercise caution while using roads to mitigate the rising cases of accidents.
“It is regrettable that most crashes are a result of human-related factors. Motorists and other road users are therefore reminded to remain vigilant, cautious, and responsible whilst in charge of a motor vehicle, or whenever using a public road as pedestrians,” he said.
Shioso urged motorists and other road users to cooperate with the law enforcement agencies at the national and county levels towards achieving the objectives of this initiative.
He also called on the non-compliant vehicles to keep off public roads to avoid any inconvenience to passengers.
This move comes after a recent data from NTSA revealed that Kenya recorded 1,968 deaths as of June this year against 1,800 lives lost last year during the same period, the National Transport and Safety Authority has said.
This number translates to 9.3 per cent increase which is replicated under other categories of serious and slight injuries.
According to NTSA, this year’s fatalities include 622 pedestrians, 545 motorcyclists, 322 passengers, and 192 pillion passengers.
181 drivers and 29 pedal-cyclists also lost their lives in the last six months.
In 2020, NTSA recorded 2,689 deaths between January and September as a result of road accidents
