The Ministry of Transport, on Monday, June 26, intensified enforcement efforts to improve safety and order and restore sanity on Kenyan roads.
In coordination with the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), the ministry under Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen initiated a crackdown on vehicles equipped with unauthorized lights.
Motorists also found to have modified their cars with illuminating lights, red lights, opaque rear lights, flashing lights, flickering lights, LED illuminating bars, and unauthorised red and blue lights will be sanctioned.
The Traffic Act Cap 403 allows directional indicator lights only to be used as flashing lights.
"No motor vehicle shall be equipped with more than one swivelling light. No spot-light or swivelling light shall be used," the law dictates.
On Monday, June 26, a motorist found himself on the wrong side of the law after being apprehended for driving a car with an extra-mounted blinking light along Ronald Ngala Street.
The motorist was charged and directed to appear at Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi on Tuesday, June 27.
Penalties Involved
Section 55 of the Traffic Act dictates how motorists should operate on the roads.
"No vehicle shall be used on a road unless such vehicle and all parts and equipment thereof, including lights and tyres, comply with the requirements of this Act, and such parts and equipment shall, at all times, be maintained in such a condition that the driving of the vehicle is not likely to be a danger to other users of the road or to persons travelling on the vehicle," the Act prescribes.
Section 58 of the Traffic Act adds that traffic offenders will pay fines not exceeding Ksh400,000.
"Any person who drives or uses on a road a vehicle in contravention of the provisions of section 55 or section 56 shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding four hundred thousand shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both," the Act states.
However, the Act offers relief to first-time offenders as the charges and imprisonment terms can be reviewed upon recommendation by NTSA and traffic enforcement officers.
"Provided that rules under this Act may provide that a person who is guilty of an offence under section 55 or 56 shall be liable to pay a fine according to a prescribed scale, and different scales may be prescribed for first offenders, and for second or subsequent offenders, within a prescribed period, but so that no person shall thereby be liable to pay a fine greater than the maximum provided by this subsection.
"And for the avoidance of doubt it is declared that liability of a person to pay a fine on a prescribed scale shall not affect that person’s liability to imprisonment under this subsection as an alternative to, in addition to, or in default of, the payment of a fine," the Act stipulates.
On Friday, October 28, 2022, the National Police Service (NPS) launched a nationwide crackdown on motorists with vehicles equipped with LED and other unauthorized lights.
"All traffic enforcement officers across the country have been directed to impound and charge motor vehicle, motorcycle owners in accordance with relevant provisions of the law," NPS announced.
Flashing lights are majorly a preserve of VIPs who signal traffic enforcement officers to allow them to bypass traffic. Chase cars, ambulances and police vehicles are also allowed to be modified with the lights to facilitate emergency operations.
NTSA approves other motorists to use flashing lights only in special circumstances.
