Government is keen on reducing road accidents, CS Murkomen

Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, has implored Kenyans to be patient as the Ministry of Transport works to curb the rising number of road accidents.

Murkomen, who said that he was especially concerned by the situation of transporting students stated that the Ministry will gazette new guidelines on how school transport should be managed given the recent accidents involving students from Chavakali High school, Kabsabet boys and Kenyatta University.

The CS who was speaking during a prize giving day at Mugoiri Girls High School in Kahuro, Murang’a, noted that there is need for accountability from schools on their vehicles maintenance and how they manage their drivers.

“We are going to employ technology to monitor how vehicles are managed starting with school buses which will be fitted with vehicular telematics,” he said.

“We have a team that is almost finalizing the standards of the right telematics to be installed in our vehicles that is working in conjunction with the Kenya Bureau of Standards,” said Murkomen.

He observed that vehicular telematics have helped reduce road accidents involving trucks as owners or managers of those fitted with the telematics including dashboard cameras are able to monitor their drivers throughout the journey.

The CS noted with concern that the number of Kenyans losing lives through road accidents is rising every year warning that those numbers should be taken seriously.

“When President Kibaki exited office, we were having about 3,500 lives lost every year, a number that had risen to 4,400 by the time by the time I took office,” he said.

“With telematics, the truck managers are able check on the driver throughout the journey making sure the driver is alert and can ask him to rest if he is dozing off and this will help with other vehicles too,” he added.

Murkomen said he is going to work with CS Education to install telematics in school buses saying the Ministry is working with Safaricom to ensure the technology to be used will be affordable for schools, explaining that the telematics will be solely for safety and not to spy on people.

The CS said that the Ministry was working on installing speed cameras on the road with the intention to start instant fining where all traffic violations will be sent to the vehicle owner’s mobile phone.

“We are already in the pilot stage and have so far installed cameras on different roads across the country,” he stated.

“We want instant fining of drivers that are going above speed limits, overlapping or committing other traffic offences,” he added

Murkomen acknowledged the efforts made by the late Transport Minister John Michuki of bringing order and dignity to travelling by ensuring matatus do not overload and passengers have seat belts. He however noted that there is still a challenge of reducing road carnage.

He asked Kenyans to play their part and stop boarding already full vehicles and to always wear seatbelt. He reminded motorcycle riders to also wear helmets when riding.

“Besides the drivers driving safely I request the passengers to be proactive and not wait for traffic officers to tell them a matatu is overloaded,” he said,

The CS averred that the Ministry of Transport is working closely with traffic police officers and National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to restore sanity on the roads.