Finally Michuki Rules to get much-needed helping hand

The changes proposed in the Traffic Amendment Bill 2012 are well meaning and, one can argue, long overdue.

Arresting the carnage on our roads requires a drastic overhaul of the Traffic Act, as the penalties prescribed under the law are not enough of a deterrent.

Too many people are dying daily on our roads, most of them victims of careless drivers of public service vehicles, or matatus, as they are commonly known.

At first glance, some of the proposed amendments look scary, and some may even question their constitutionality. For instance, the Bill wants life imprisonment for persons convicted of causing death by dangerous driving giving the offence the same status as murder.

Other proposals that are bound to raise eyebrows include mandatory eye tests every three years for licensed drivers, with those who fail the tests having their licenses withdrawn. One might argue that this opens a window for corruption as the Bill does not prescribe how, where and who are to administer the tests and how the police will verify their authenticity.

However, there is still time to fine-tune the Bill and the public must be allowed to provide input to ensure the final draft is inclusive and not discriminatory.

The Bill raises the cost to motorists found breaking traffic rules, and rightly so, since the current penalties are laughable to say the least.

One measure seeks to reduce the sale of stolen motor vehicles by making it illegal to sell a vehicle without surrendering the number plate to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles.

Cool your heels

Another seeks to instill discipline in motorists caught in traffic by imposing a Sh30,000 fine or three months imprisonment or both on drivers who opt to use the pavement or drive through a petrol station to avoid traffic, a practice referred to as overlapping.

Speeding motorists who defy prescribed limits risk parting with a Sh10,000 fine or cooling their heels in jail for three months.

All in all, most of the proposed changes are a breath of fresh air and it is hoped that MPs and the public will debate them soberly and without prejudice. Such deterrence might be what the much abused Michuki Rules needed.