Why State should introduce Ministry of Transport Test

By Peter Nguli
 
It is a D-Day for road users including motorists, pedestrians and passengers and perhaps the best news this month: that the President has assented to the National Transport and Safety Authority Act, 2012.

The Act authorizes the National Transport and Safety Authority to harmonise transport functions currently discharged by the Transport Licensing Board, the National Road Safety Council, Registrar of Motor Vehicles, the Motor Vehicle Inspection Department and the Road Department in the Ministry of Roads. The Act may help in reducing accidents and road madness shown by our 'Matatu' drivers, and other road users.
 
However, the NTSA should go further and introduce Ministry of Transport Test (MOT) for all vehicles. The (MOT) is an annual compulsory test of automobile safety, roadworthiness aspects and exhaust emissions required for all vehicles over three years old used on public roads in the United Kingdom. Perhaps, Kenya can borrow a leaf from the UK on this important automobile test where all vehicles must undergo this annual test to ensure their roadworthiness. It is like a compulsory medical test before one gets employed.
 
It is no secret that some of our vehicles on our roads are like old monuments worth to be placed in a museum.

Some are like coffins, infested with cobwebs and one cannot ascertain their year of manufacture. Some cough out smoke like steam engine trains used during the Second World War. These rusted locomotives only increase the level of accidents when their brakes fail or other parts malfunction hence putting lives of our citizens at risk.
 
Maintaining a vehicle well is very important to increase its life span, guarantee the best performance and ensure road safety. Everyone who owns and drives a vehicle in Kenya should be subjected to a compulsory MOT. This should be made a legal requirement for all vehicles over the age of 3 years.

As a vehicle owner, it must be made your legal responsibility to acquire a document which ensures your motor vehicle is road worthy at all times.

 This is not only for your safety but for the safety of other road users around you.  After the test, a certificate should be issued to last for one year if the vehicle passes the test and it will need to be renewed before it expires. A vehicle that fails the test should never be on the road.

To ensure its implementation, the government can issue certificates to accredited MOT test garages throughout the country. To ensure that the garage is an approved MOT testing centre, the government may introduce a sign or logo and the test centres could be required to produce certificates as prove that they are accredited by the government.

Significance
If and when introduced, an MOT test will consist of testing your vehicle for both safety and carbon emissions levels and will involve several tests on your vehicle including testing your brakes, lights, doors, fuel system, tyres, rust, dents, broken windscreens as well as the level of emissions being produced by your vehicle. It will also test safety features such as your seatbelts, horn, seats and steering controls.

By reducing carbon emissions, one will be observing his carbon-footprint and helping reduce the impacts of global warming and climate change by going 'green' and meeting the UN targets.

The importance of getting regular MOT tests cannot be stressed enough. Whether it's a new or used vehicle, it must be tested at regular intervals. Regardless of the make or sophistication level of the vehicle, servicing it at regular intervals as a mandatory MOT testing is essential.

The vehicle is a mechanical machine which, when driven, has thousands of parts that are working. There is heat and friction generated, and parts tend to wear and tear. Every vehicle must come with an owners' manual, which tells you exactly when to get it MOT tested and at various levels of service, what needs to be done and what parts need to be replaced.

Before one buys a second-hand vehicle, he must check its life MOT history; from changing simple parts like the air and oil filters, to more elaborate parts like timing belts.
 
As a necessity, the government should make sure all motor-vehicles are inspected at least once a year, as a legal requirement. This will reduce the number of road accidents on our roads all year round instead of leaning to the old stereotypes of blaming the month of August as evil or blaming our reckless 'Matatu' and bus drivers who corruptly buy their licenses to kill.