Defective cars impounded in crackdown

Vehicles moving in traffic along Haile Selassie Avenue, Nairobi. [Photo: Courtesy]

Tens of passengers were over the weekend stranded for hours following a major crackdown targeting public service vehicles plying the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.

During the operation conducted by various government agencies, including National Transport and Safety Authority, several drivers were arrested and their vehicles detained.

The crackdown came two days after NTSA identified the highway as the leading in accidents with PSVs playing a part in the accidents.

The operation also unearthed a trend where PSV's were tampering with speed governors.

According to David Kiarie from the Road Safety Association of Kenya, PSV's were a major contributor to accidents in the country.

Kiarie said they were alarmed by the number of accidents this year alone and decided to conduct a joint operation to find out what was going wrong.

"Over 2,000 Kenyans have lost their lives so far this year and this is an increase from last year so we had to intervene and conduct this crackdown,” he said.

He said public service vehicles were leading in the number of accidents adding that many had tampered with speed governors which was illegal.

“We have done everything we can to have vehicles fitted with speed governors but some of the operators had devised a new way of tampering with them resulting to unnecessary accidents," he noted.

He supported the move by NTSA to suspend various Saccos who had flouted traffic rules saying the operation will continue until sanity was restored on Kenyan roads.

His sentiments were echoed by Edward Gitonga from the Kenya Speed Governor association who called on Kenyans to speak out whenever they found a PSV speeding on highways.

He said everybody had a role to play to ensure safety for all adding that the operation would continue until sanity was restored on Kenyan roads.

"The latest trick is where drivers of PSV's had devised a new way of tampering with speed governors thereby putting the lives of passengers at risk," he said.

On Thursday NTSA said a total of 2,214 Kenyans had lost their lives in accidents majorly contributed by PSV vehicles.

The Authority said they had witnessed multiple accidents and termed the Northern corridor as leading in fatalities.