Drivers under the Motorists Association of Kenya (MAK) have firmly opposed the government's directive to reintroduce alcoblow tests on all major roads, describing the move as not only misplaced but also dangerously flawed.
This is after Transport CS Davis Chirchir announced that the return of alcoblows on all major roads will be beginning the Easter season to curb the rising cases of accidents witnessed in the country lately.
In an official statement, the motorists accused the CS of hurriedly returning the alcoblow without correcting its previous systemic flaws, posing a risk of repeating past mistakes.
"It reeks of knee-jerk reactions and public relations rather than meaningful road safety management," the motorists said of the CS's decision.
The motorists rejected the alcoblows, arguing that traffic officers had taken advantage of the device to exploit motorists.
"The gadget, originally intended to enhance road safety by deterring drunk driving, has instead been transformed into an extortion tool and revenue collection gimmick by overzealous and misinformed law enforcement officers," the drivers argued.
According to the drivers' association, this method is not effective enough to curb drunk driving since serious drunk drivers, including rogue PSV operators, easily avoid them using alternative routes coordinated through social media groups.
While regular motorists who are not impaired are caught in an unfair dragnet that criminalises moderate, responsible drinking.
The motorists are now challenging the ministry to correct the past mistakes pointed out by a court ruling that had previously suspended alcoblows due to misuse.
The drivers are now calling on proper legal and scientific processes to curb drinking and driving, including a shift from static to patrol-based Driving Under the Influence (DUI) detection where trained police officers are used to observe behaviour first before testing.
The motorists are also calling for established protocols to follow up on testing and enforce Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) and urine confirmation before any charges.
To end extortion and profiling and uphold human rights and traffic laws, the drivers are calling for transparency and oversight.
The government has been asked to shift the focus to PSV drivers, repeat offenders, and reckless operators rather than innocent motorists.
