Vehicle inspection should be efficient and graft-free

Traffic police officers order matatu vehicles to park by the roadside for them to conduct inspections during a major crackdown on public and private vehicles along Eldoret-Nakuru highways. [Peter Ochieng, Standard]

After President Uhuru Kenyatta signed the Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2021 into law recently, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) will inspect all vehicles older than four years regularly. Breathalysers are also back, but the risk is that their use increases the chances of spreading Covid-19.

The need to carry out periodic inspection of vehicles cannot be gainsaid. This is because the number of accidents from defective vehicles, drink-driving, speeding and over loading continues to rise annually. Between June 2021 and June 2022, NTSA statistics show that road accidents claimed 1,968 people, up from 1,800 who died between June 2020 and June 2021.