The Motorists Association of Kenya has called on a crackdown on rogue driving schools amid a spike in road carnage across the country well into the new year.
In a statement on Monday, January 5, the association claimed that the majority of driving institutions across the country do not offer vital training such as highway driving, night driving, yet record 100 per cent pass rates at the end of the day.
Because of this gap, MAK alleged drivers were effectively rendered partially competent on Kenyan roads, thus spiking the risk of road accidents.
The association has urged the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to strengthen oversight and ensure driving schools offer comprehensive training so that all drivers are fully competent on the roads.
"NTSA must explain how untrained and untested drivers obtain licences. The authority cannot blame drivers while presiding over a licensing system riddled with corruption and incompetence," MAK stated.
"Until institutions accept responsibility, Kenyans will continue to bury loved ones on a highway that should unite the region, not kill its people," it added.
The association also faulted traffic police for often facilitating corruption on traffic corridors, by often leaving "safer sections" of the road where accidents rarely happen and leaving blackspots unmanned.
"Traffic enforcement has degenerated into rent-seeking roadblocks. Officers allow dangerous overlapping and defective vehicles to proceed after bribes, then later blame 'reckless drivers,' " MAK said.
"Police are rarely present at black spots but set speed traps on open, safer sections of road where crashes rarely occur. Their static positions are well known and serve revenue, not safety," it added.
According to the association, in addition to cracking down on unfit drivers, the national government, in collaboration with the county government, should deploy other interventions, including providing service roads, truck lay-bys, pedestrian crossings, proper lighting, and land-use control around highways to ensure safety on roads.
The association has further urged the National government to ensure the fast-tracking of the dualing of accident-prone corridors, especially the Nairobi- Nakuru highway and the Nairobi- Mombasa Highway.
The statement comes amid the accelerating rate of road accidents on major routes across the country, especially during this time when people are travelling back to the country's capital after the festive season.
In the past three days, more than 15 people have lost their lives along major corridors in the country.
On Monday, January 5, 10 people lost their lives after a Greenline bus collided head-on with a Nanyuki Cabs shuttle in Naivasha, while on Saturday, January 3, five more people died after a Great Rift 14-seater matatu collided at Kikopey Gilgil.
Nakuru County Police Commander Emmanuel Opuru stressed the need for motorists to exercise caution along the highway.
“We have received the report of the incident, and we can confirm that we have dispatched teams and emergency units to respond to the incident,” Opuru said.
While NTSA has been conducting compliance checks for a large part of the festive season, stakeholders, including long-distance truck drivers, insist these checks are not enough to combat the root cause of accidents.
