The recent trend whereby motorists of high-end vehicles speed off a petrol station without paying the stipulated bills has raised concern among Kenyans.
This led to most people wondering why the drivers of such luxurious vehicles could not pay the bills.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke on Sunday, February 5, Daniel from the road safety mobilization entity, Sikika, attributed the cause to claims of hiring the luxurious vehicles.
"One of the most common excuses after reaching out to these drivers is that they have hired the cars and hence they are not registered to them," he stated.
Daniel also pointed out that some drivers alleged that they were not in a position to pay at the time, but end up paying at a later time.
He highlighted a recent case on Saturday, February 4, where the driver of an Audi car sped off after pumping fuel worth Ksh8,000 at a local petrol station in Gitaru along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.
Following an uproar, an association of Audi motorists intervened and willingly gave away the driver's contact to the Sikika platform for action to be taken.
"I have talked to him and he has explained to me the circumstances which culminated in him not paying and he has assured me he will sort it out tomorrow because today he has hit the target of what he can transact. On behalf of the Audi family, I am sorry for what happened and any inconveniences caused are highly regretted," a post by Robert Oscar stated.
Speaking to Sikika, the driver, however, declined to admit that he is the owner of the car and refuted the claims.
Kenyans called for punitive measures to be imposed at all petrol stations in a bid to curtail the worrying trend, including adopting pre-paid services.
The trend was witnessed in the past four weeks with over four cases reported at various police stations.
On Sunday, January 29, a Land Rover Discovery driver sped off without paying a Ksh10,000 bill at a petrol station in Kiserian, Kajiado County. The driver ended up settling the bill after the situation was raised on social media platforms.
In addition, the driver of a Toyota Prado TX on January 3, 2023, drove off from a petrol station along Jogoo Road without paying a bill worth Ksh10,000.
A week later, the driver of a Toyota Mark X, drove away without paying a bill worth Ksh12,000 at a petrol station in Imara Daima.
