Kenyan government to install cameras on roads to reduce accidents

To lessen traffic accidents, the government will soon employ monitoring equipment to identify the speed of vehicles on roadways.

After a spike in traffic accidents, Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen yesterday gave the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) the order to put traffic and speed cameras throughout the highways. A transport data centre and a road transport dashboard were also ordered to be operationalized right away by the CS. Murkomen regretted that despite a variety of initiatives to address the devastation on the roads, numerous lives were still being lost each day as a result of reckless driving.

“The government seeks to improve transport management to achieve enhanced safety on roads. Thousands of lives are still being lost every day, with most of the crashes being attributed to careless driving behaviours. Practical and evidence-based interventions must be put in place if we are to reverse this unfortunate trend,” he said.

 He added: “I instruct the NTSA Board to support NTSA management to deliver on the following directives: installation of traffic and speed cameras along the highways.”

Also, Murkomen gave instructions to the roads department to boost the number of private motor vehicle inspection centres that are registered and licenced in the country.

He additionally instructed NTSA to collaborate with Kenya Rural Urban Roads (Kura) to facilitate the implementation of the intelligent traffic system (ITS), which calls for the building of a traffic management centre (TMC) and the installation of ITS infrastructure at 81 junctions in Nairobi. The ITS system includes sensor-controlled traffic lights, cameras, redesigned junctions, and bus stops, allowing drivers to make decisions based on the information and enhancing safety, mobility, trip time, emissions reduction, and the effectiveness of the current transportation infrastructure.

The system is currently built along the Nairobi Western Ring Roads (NWRR), Ngong Road Phase 1 and 2 as well as Nairobi Eastern missing connections and nearby roads. Murkomen also instructed NTSA to create an accident reporting platform so that people can alert the appropriate emergency and medical services in the event of an accident. Additionally, he instructed NTSA to coordinate the creation of an accident and emergency mutual aid system with medical professionals and the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) to ensure accident victims receive the necessary professional care, such as ambulance services.

The new regulations come at a time when road accidents are becoming more frequent in the nation, with the most recent incident being in Kayole along the Naivasha-Nakuru Highway.

The CS demanded the implementation of a boda boda action plan, which calls for the registration and licencing of boda boda operators as well as their training and capacity-building. The action was taken shortly after South B’s Al-Huda Mosque’s rider killed Banissa MP Kulow Maalim Hassan on March 25. Murkomen also instructed the NTSA to put the Traffic (Driving Schools, Driving Instructors, and Driving Licenses) Rules into effect to combat reckless driving.