Matatu owners want drunk drivers dealt with firmly

Matatu operators in Embu County have called upon the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to intensify the crackdown on drunk drivers so as to prevent accidents and loss of lives during the festive season.

The operators, led by NENO Sacco chairman Joseph Ireri, said that most of the accidents during the festive season are caused by drunkenness and and speeding.

He said that NTSA should place the alco-blow and speed guns on all roads across the country so as to ensure drivers do not get on the roads while drunk.

Ireri said that they have advised their drivers to avoid human errors on the roads so as to avoid accidents saying that they have also put in place monitoring mechanisms for their vehicles to monitor drivers and punish those who break the law.

“We are saying that even the personal cars drivers should not be spared. If a personal car driver is drunk, he will inconvenience even the public service vehicles,” he said.

NENO Sacco founder Emilio Kathuri, said that corruption is the major cause of accidents in the country as traffic police officers are given some money to allow drunk drivers proceed with their journey.

This comes even as former Manyatta Member of Parliament Emilio Kathuri called on traffic police officers to intensify patrols on the roads and deal firmly with those found contravening the set laws.

NTSA Director of Motor Vehicle Inspection Gerald Wangai said the department had recorded many accidents which involve private vehicles as compared to public ones.

He said that private vehicles accounted for 34 per cent of all accidents every year followed by heavy commercial vehicles at 24 per cent, PSVs at 21 per cent and motor cycles at 17 per cent.

In September, NTSA reported that about 1,899 lives were lost through road accidents between January and August this year, with 60% of these being pedestrian and Boda boda riders’ deaths.

The report also showed that there is an increase in the number of motorbike users.This had in turn pushed up the number of road accidents as opposed to last year where there was a reduction of 10 per cent in the number of accidents.

On Thursday, the traffic police gave a caution that Motorists will have to drive at 50 kilometers per hour in Karai area in Kinungi on the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway to curb road carnage.

This is after the new directive issued by (NTSA) in conjunction with the Kenya National Highways Authority (KENHA) as they started erecting the 50km/h speed limit sign-posts to curb speeding.

Over the recent past Police together with Matatu SACCOS had embarked on a sensitization programme to educate matatu operators on the dangers associated with over speeding, driving while drunk and carelessness on the roads.