The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) on Wednesday, May 24, announced that it was rolling out a new digital system to apprehend traffic offenders.
Speaking to the media in Naivasha, NTSA Director General George Njao stated that the technology dubbed the 'Intelligent Road Safety Management System', would face out speed guns that had become inaccurate and were often misused.
Njao explained that the technology will be put under one platform for all Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) operating in the country and will be accessed through the Sacco.
This means that each sacco will monitor the speed of their drivers as well as get a real-time alert when they commit any traffic offences.
“Unlike in the past, each operator or Sacco will have their own platform under this system; for example, those operating Kikuyu will have their details captured in the system, including assigned drivers,” Njao stated.
Additionally, NTSA and matatu owners will get real-time data that will be mined from the speed limiters and therefore take informed action.
"Basically, the speed limiter must do three things: limit the speed above 80, record the data, and transmit it within five seconds to the speed limiter vendor and NTSA servers," Njao explained.
He noted that 57-speed governor dealers had already integrated the system to allow their gadgets to update information concerning specific vehicles.
Njao added that the authority had increased signage along major roads and continued road improvement by filling potholes to further reduce road accidents.
"We will present our recommendations to the Council of Governors on how counties can improve their efforts to address road safety issues at the grassroots level," he noted.
According to data released by NTSA on May 24, regarding road carnage, 1,700 people had died in road accidents since January 2023 with the highest number of fatalities recorded being pedestrians at 571 and motorcycle operators at 449.
"From January to date this year, we have lost a total of 1,679 people in road accidents, compared to 1,756 in the same period last year, with pedestrians and motorcyclists being the leading causes,” NTSA deputy director in charge of road safety Dr Duncan Kibogong stated.
