Any driver found overlapping or speeding during the festive season will have his driving license suspended indefinitely.
In a raft of measures introduced by the traffic police department, Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) whose speed governors are tampered with will also be de-registered.
This emerged as the department embarked on a countrywide crackdown targeting PSVs ahead of Easter period.
During a crackdown along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway tens of passengers were left stranded after their vehicles were nabbed for flouting the law.
According to the Traffic commandant Samuel Kimaru, the number of fatal accidents were on the rise mainly during the festive season.
Addressing the press in Naivasha after launching the crackdown, he said that the exercise would be extended to government vehicles.
“We have directed our officers to confiscate driving licenses of drives who are speeding and overlapping and we shall suspend the offenders from operating in our roads,” he said.
The senior officer warned that apart from arresting drivers for flouting traffic rules, they would also charge owners of defective vehicles.He expressed his concern over the high number of drunk drivers on the roads warning that their days were numbered as they faced arrest.
The senior officer at the same time warned drivers who ferried passengers on routes not assigned to them that they faced arrest.
“During the festive season we have seen drivers from the main towns changing their routes to ferry passengers up country leading to accidents and we shall not tolerate this,” he said.
Kimaru at the same time noted that majority of fatal accidents in the county were occurring at night mainly along the busy highways.
“Traffic officers will operate even at night and we shall target even government vehicles and whoever is arrested shall face the law regardless of their status,” he said.
One of the affected passengers Francis Njihia praised the crackdown saying that it was meant to make sure that the vehicles were safe.
“Though our journey has been delayed, we support this crackdown as many lives will be saved and it should be carried out every day,” he said.
Another passenger Boniface Wambugu who was heading to Nakuru from Nairobi however disagreed with him noting that the exercise was a waste of time.
“We have spent over three hours on this spot due to this exercise that has been poorly organized,” he said.
SOURCE: standardmedia.co.ke
