Approach any urbanite and ask him or her to list top three nightmares associated with living in a big city.

Failure to have all these items in the car would put me at loggerheads with law enforcement and regulatory authorities, the message poignantly warned.

More Kenyans have so far died in road accidents this year than the whole of last year, according to statistics from the National Transport and Safety Authority.

The euphoria over the visit by US President Barack Obama is over and normal services which can as well be traffic gridlocks have resumed.

The Government’s announcement that double cab pick-up trucks will no longer be categorised as commercial vehicles is a welcome relief to many.

In the past few weeks, Embakasi has been in the news for all the wrong reasons as far as transport matters are concerned.

They say age is nothing but a number, but try telling that to the Treasury mandarins on vehicle importation.

Since independence, every finance minister has found taxing motorists irresistible. It is like that pretty girl in the front pew in church.

Image is everything, it is said, but I want to think that does not apply when you are behind the wheel of a Toyota Probox.

The recent declaration by certain insurance firm that it would not cover BMWs and Subarus valued below Sh 1.5M is not only laughable, but also callous.

As if that is not enough, in the last couple of months, boda boda riders have been captured on CCTV cameras abetting felonies by offering a quick getaway from the crime scene.

The scheme requires successful contractors to seek ways to finance the construction of roads once they win bids and most importantly maintain these roads once they have constructed them.

Lately, Nairobi motorists have had to endure all manner of sufferings. From stifling traffic gridlocks to potholes, Alco blow and petty thieves who have forced us to chainside mirrors to car doors.

The government of Nairobi City County needs to table long-term traffic solutions because its current experiments are just not working.

A couple of years ago, I watched on YouTube as a scraggy chap was caught on a certain airport’s CCTV helping himself to a good wrist watch at the security screening.

On Monday, Nairobians woke up to new changes to traffic flow along many roads, making their morning ride anything but smooth.

Now that is Palm Sunday, how about we start our Sunday Ride a bit spiritually by walking the talk like Jesus did to take to save humanity.

In a bid to enhance performance and service delivery in the public sector, the government introduced performance contracts some years ago.

Last Friday, I had a business lunch with my brother-in-law.

Since the world market price of crude oil began its downward trend six months ago, there have been calls on government to reduce the retail prices of petroleum products.

As another year passes by, a lot of people will be making their New Year resolutions.

The debate about the length of the dress has dominated interaction on new media sites as well as occupied acres of spaces in the traditional media platforms. Not that I expected it to go away so soon, but the rate at which it is gaining notoriety is alarming.

Earlier this month, the President confounded both friend and foe when he lifted a blanket ban on licensing of 14-seater Passenger Service Vehicles for long distances and rural areas.

Some months, the President visited the United States and promised many things to Kenyans living there and announced that they would be allowed to bring in right-hand drive vehicles duty-free starting this month.

The big news in the motoring industry last week was about the entry of Mobius car, a model currently being assembled at Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers in Thika.

Early this week, we celebrated Mashujaa Day in an elaborate ceremony.

Any economist will tell you that one of the big ingredients of contributing to national growth and development is consumption.

In Kenya, a car is no longer a convenient tool to move from point A to B. It is a statement symbol.

In this competitive world of winners and losers, one man’s gain is usually another man’s cost. A notable exception is good vehicle maintenance.

Some years back, a corporate honcho remarked that Kenyans’ have peculiar calling habits. That did not go down well with most of us. We felt insulted by the very company that we were spending lots of cash on so that we could be in touch with family and friends.

An automatic transmission is a fine accessory — if you consider the application of concealer a vital part of your daily routine. Automatic transmission vehicles are for those who find driving a confusing task; those who need to focus 100 per cent on pushing one pedal, but, unfortunately, find themselves frequently distracted by things like cell phones, makeup, favourite food items, and shiny things.

There isn’t a single page in the Highway Code dealing with the unwritten rules of the road (otherwise, they would not be unwritten).

People who throw litter out of car windows are imbeciles. Recently, someone tossed a banana peel out of a car window, and it landed on my friend’s windscreen. On a day with poor visibility, such an incident could easily cause an accident.

“The fact that ‘lady-driven’ is still a selling point for used cars in this country is not only sexist, but also illogical. Do potential buyers really think that a car driven by a woman will somehow be in better condition than if a man had driven it?

A study conducted by the University of Michigan has determined that women get into more accidents than men, even though they drive less. They probably account for a good 10 per cent of the accidents involving men at the wheel, while nagging from the passenger’s seat.

Female motoring is a complicated affair. One would think driving is as simple as getting into the car, turning on the ignition and driving off, but it is not so for our dear sisters.

Going by the number of vehicles on our roads, there are some categories of service in the motor industry that are doing roaring business. One of them must be the car washing business.

The innovation is simply out of this world when it comes to entrepreneurship, evading taxation and, the latest fad, evading the dreaded Alcoblow breathalyser screening.

Every couple of years, we find ourselves having to buy a new car, either to upgrade or for practical reasons.

If you are a regular driver in any of the country’s major towns, no doubt you have encountered a good number of profoundly selfish and senseless drivers who make the roads a harder place to be.