Motorists could soon be barred from using some specific lanes on major public highways should a proposal tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, March 29 sail through.
Appearing before the National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC), Samburu West Member of Parliament Naisula Lesuuda presented a legislative proposal seeking to introduce extra lanes on all roads in the country.
Breaking down the proposal's details, Naisula told the committee that the newly created lanes would be exclusively reserved for non-motorised users.
Non-motorised users in the country include cyclists and pedestrians. Her proposals would see motorised restricted from using the specific lanes on all Kenyan roads.
Defending the legislative proposal, Naisula argued that creating exclusive lanes for non-motorised users would help reduce congestion caused by vehicles.
Further, Naisula indicated that the lanes would help reduce noise pollution.
According to the legislature, the proposal would be adopted by amending the Kenya Roads Act 2007.
" Naisula Lesuuda’s proposal sought to amend the Kenya Roads Act 2007 to insert a new section 47 (a) which will require all public roads to have lanes or tracks for exclusive use by non-motorized transport users to minimize vehicle congestion as well as noise pollution," Parliament stated.
Following her proposal, the committee chairperson Ndindi Nyoro directed that the members would either approve the proposals as presented or approve with amendments or await Treasury’s advisory before concluding.
Barring motorists from some select lanes would be a win to cyclists and pedestrians as it would reduce road accidents in the country.
According to the National Transport and Safety Authority's (NTSA) data, road crashes reduced by 4.6 per cent in a period of one year.
NTSA detailed that the number of fatalities involving pedestrians, pillion passengers and motorcyclists had reduced from 1,021 to 974 between March 20, 2023, and the same date the previous year.
The drop was attributed to increased sensitiation campaigns in different parts of the country.
“The 4.6 per cent drop is mainly attributed to increased public education and awareness through the government road safety mainstreaming programme,” NTSA stated.
