The month of December 2017 saw the number of road accidents skyrocket and most of them were linked to PSV vehicles. The ministry of Transport and Infrastructure the other day banned night travel by PSVs , a decision I think was too rushed without considering all the players involved in this vast industry. In fact the most recent accidents that happened in Machakos County and Migaa happened during the day. To this effect, the ministry will be rolling out digital driving licenses which are aimed at reducing the number of accidents on the road because the behavior of drivers on the road  will be easily monitored by these licenses.

First, there are so many factors that contribute to road accidents, and night travel is one of them but one of the least factors. Holiday season is marred by a lot of traveling especially from urban centers to rural areas. The demand is obviously high and that’s why you’ll find some drivers doing two or more trips in a day . For me, this is where the bigger problem stems from. Two things come up; SPEED and FATIGUE. An expose yesterday on NTV Kenya showed how drivers don’t pay attention to traffic rules. They over-speed and overtake carelessly even where they aren’t supposed to. Another one which is also a major factor is the police. There are so many road unworthy vehicles moving around because a certain policeman took a BRIBE to allow them to continue operating. Basically the three factors to me stand out as the major causes of road accidents and they’re things that can be avoided.

The digital driving licences will be issued first to PSV drivers starting this January and will cost Sh3,000 each. The licence has 20 points that get deducted every time a driver commits a traffic offense. Eventually, those motorists that commit the most offenses like drunk driving and speeding will see more points deducted among other punishments like the withdrawal of their driving permits either temporarily or permanently or pay fines depending on the offense or attending refresher driving lessons.

“All drivers, particularly PSV vehicle drivers, will be retrained once more in a phased manner. This will be done in various training centers and all accredited driving schools across the country using the new competency based curriculum. Employers will be required to check the NTSA portal for driving history before employment”, said Mr Macharia, Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary.

I loud the move of using digital driving licences because it’s a step towards preventing avoidable traffic offences. As more measures are being taken to curb road carnage , the ministry should also come up with stringent measures that affect the police who take bribes too. This is a collective problem that needs a collective solution. Blaming only one party is not solving the whole problem.

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