The construction of three roads over-rail and an interchange near Naivasha town on the Maai Mahiu-Naivasha-Lanet road, and an interchange near Athi River have addressed glaring safety measure.

The design of the ongoing rehabilitation of the Nairobi-Thika has also addressed road safety. Roundabouts will be removed and replacing with six interchanges and bridges to ease traffic congestion.

In 2003, the Ministry of Transport improved the Traffic Act to ensure orderly and safe travel and motoring. It introduced mandatory installation of speed governors and seat belts, limits on loading capacity, identification and suitability tests for drivers of public service vehicles. It also demanded inspection and licensing of PSVs and uniforms for drivers and conductors.

Government agencies charged with the responsibility of ensuring compliance with the regulations are the Motor Vehicle Inspection Unit and the Transport Licensing Board (TLB). The former’s mandate is to ensure that PSVs are mechanically sound and comply with safety standards. The latter issues PSV licence to operators, drivers and conductors and regularly inspect PSVs to ensure adherence.

Implementation and enforcement of road safety regulations has had its challenges. Road safety requires the input of many players. The causes of road deaths and injuries have been identified as: 85 per cent human factors, 11 per cent vehicle condition and the environment four per cent. Kenya has a low motorisation level of an estimated 1.3 million vehicles — 60,000 are registered annually.

Despite this, more than 13,000 road traffic accidents occur annually, resulting in an average fatality of 2,600 and more than 11,000 injuries. The socio-economic loss occasioned by accidents is a big drain on the economy, especially in the health sector and labour force.

To improve road safety, the Transport ministry will introduce electronic driving licences, which will eliminate the use of forged driving documents. The ministry is also reviewing the driving school curriculum to regulate courses offered. A Transport Licensing Appeals Tribunal has been set up to give dissatisfied operators, drivers and conductors a platform for appeal when their vehicles are grounded or PSV licences suspended.

For instance, between June and mid-August 2009, TLB suspended operations of 700 vehicles and licences of a similar number of drivers and conductors. On-the-spot ticketing and fining traffic offenders have been introduced

To realise greater results, the ministry has launched a National Road Safety Council to coordinate, monitor and evaluate road safety, maintain a database and conduct research to improve policy. The council will publish regular reports, set standards for road safety equipment and recommend precautionary measures to prevent accidents.

The 24-member council, comprising stakeholders in road transport, professional organisations, special groups and NG0s, is expected to enlist the goodwill of other organisations in the public and private sectors, development partners and at the same time seek other sources of funding besides the Exchequer.