Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has ordered the immediate fitting of speed limiters on all Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) and commercial vehicles.
In a statement dated Tuesday, April 9, the CS directed that the speed limiters be onboarded with the NTSA Intelligent Road Safety Management System (IRSMS) for effective monitoring of the speed of the drivers.
According to the CS, the vehicles will be relaying information on the speed of the vehicles and help the police and National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) in the enforcement of traffic rules.
"To prevent accidents and protect lives, we hereby issue a further directive for immediate compliance with KS 2295 – 2018 on maximum road speed limiters for motor vehicles to ensure speed limiters fitted on PSVs and commercial vehicles are functional, limiting speed, storing data, transmitting speed data every five seconds and onboarded onto the NTSA Intelligent Road Safety Management System ( IRSMS)," read the statement in part.
As part of the enforcement, all commercial and PSVs will have to undergo compliance checks within the next 30 days.
Those who fail to comply will have their licences revoked.
On the other hand, school buses will also have to be reinspected to ensure that they comply with various standards set out by the government.
"As public engagements on the Draft Traffic (School Transport) Rules 2024 advance, all learning institutions are required to present their vehicles for inspection by May 1, 2024, to assess their mechanical soundness and whether the speed limiters installed on them are functional.
"School vehicles carrying children are restricted to operating between 6 am and 7 pm," he stated.
Meanwhile, the recent enforcement of traffic rules will also be extended to the Boda Boda industry with various county government officials and traffic police directed to ensure that the set standards are adhered to.
"Our law enforcement officers tirelessly serve our great nation. Unfortunately, for far too long, minimal investment has been directed to resourcing the Traffic Police to undertake their mandate.
"The Government will direct more resources to the enforcement function in order to address capacity building, acquisition of equipment including enforcement devices and adoption of the latest technology," he added.
Regarding the overloading of passengers, Murkomen urged the Judiciary to enforce the highest penalties possible for those involved so as to erode the malpractice on the roads.
Murkomen issued the directives after the recent surge in road accidents that have seen over 1,000 Kenyans lose their life.
As of April 3, NTSA reported that 1,213 Kenyans had died in road accidents with pedestrians being the most affected.
