Driving retests, speed governor inspection: Murkomen announces new measures to curb road accidents

The government through the Ministry of Transport has issued a raft of new measures to curb the rising cases of road accidents in the country.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen directed that all school transportation shall not be allowed to operate between 10pm and 5am.

The CS further asked school heads to ensure school buses are fitted with functional seat belts and approved functional speed gadgets.

“All school children must be allocated seats with functional seatbelts put on at all times,” said Murkomen.

On public transport, the CS directed that all PSV and commercial vehicle drivers be subjected to a mandatory driving retest before the renewal of their driving licenses from June 1, 2023.

Further, from July 1, 2023, all PSV drivers will have to undergo a mandatory medical fitness test before renewal of their driving licenses.

"Section 30(6) of CAP 403 of the Traffic Act provides that "a driver of a public service vehicle or a commercial vehicle shall be required to undergo every three years a driving test under Section 39 successfully as a condition for each renewal of the licence".

"In the implementation of the above sections, I direct as follows; From 1st July 2023, all PSV drivers, and commercial vehicle drivers will be subjected to a mandatory medical fitness test by a qualified medical practitioner before renewal of their driving licences. Additionally, all driver trainees will be expected to provide a medical certificate before administration on the NTSA driver test," said Murkomen.

The CS further wants all the 57 licensed speed limit vendors to install approved gadgets that will limit speed, record speed data after every five seconds, transmit data to both the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) and the vendor servers and report violations in real-time.

To ensure all public service vehicles operate with functional speed limiters, the Transport CS announced that a multi-agency clinic shall be formed to verify and validate all speed limiters from 25th of April 2023 to the 31st of May 2023.

“All stakeholders including public transport operators, speed limiter vendors and the National Police Service will be incorporated into this multi-agency exercise,” said the CS.

On the management of accident-prone areas, the CS directed the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), Kenya Urban Road Authority (KURA) and the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to work expeditiously to complete the ongoing audits on all blackspots and ensure safety interventions, including installation of signage, reflectors, and street lighting within the next 30 days.

Meanwhile, all motor vehicle owners with expired inspection certificates have been directed to present their vehicles to the nearest NTSA centre for a fresh assessment of their roadworthiness within the next 30 days.

The directives come a day after five students of Mbihi Secondary School in Vihiga were killed in a road accident near the Delamare area in Naivasha along Nairobi- Nakuru Highway. The matatu ferrying the pupils towards Nairobi collided with an oncoming lorry while trying to overtake.