High Court stops speed limit law, vehicle inspection

Motorists got a reprieve after the High Court suspended the 50 kilometers per hour speed limit imposed by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA).

The High Court also suspended the gazette notice requiring inspection of vehicles manufactured more than four years ago and the renewal of driving license online.

Yesterday, Justice George Odunga said the regulations were not applicable due to non- specification especially on the speed limit.

The judge said as demonstrated the lawyer for Law Society of Kenya (LSK), Mr Harrison Kinyanjui, not all Kenyans have access to internet connectivity to apply for licences. The judge directed that the matter be mentioned on November 7 for further directions.

LSK filed an application seeking orders to stop the intended motor vehicles inspection, the demand for speed limit and the renewal of driving license online.

The lawyers want the court to quash public notices that were issued by NTSA on September 6 and 15 through local newspapers.

LSK further wants NTSA and their agents stopped from “harassing motorists” using the said roads on allegations of violating the speed limits imposed by NTSA.

The suit further wants the Transport CS, his Principal Secretary Nduva Muli, the NTSA, the Traffic Commandant, Kenya Roads Board and the AG who have also been named as respondents stopped from demanding compliance of the speed limits.

The lawyers’ body also wants the court to compel the Transport ministry and NTSA to put up road signs along the affected roads indicating the requisite speed limits.

The directives by the Transport ministry and authority, Kinyanjui stated, are a violation of the rights of Kenyan motorists.

The suit also challenged the requirement to renew driving licences online, stating that not all Kenyans can access the internet. “By limiting the renewal of validly issued driving licences to online access only, the NTSA action is itself restrictive and oppressive to a large number of Kenyans not able to access internet connectivity across Kenya,” the lawyer stated.

He said that each motorist should be informed of specific points where speed limits begin and end as motorists are being arrested arbitrarily under the guise of public safety.

LSK argued that any motorist arrested in a 50 kilometre-per-hour limit area for speeding, are deprived of the due process of the law.