Nairobi, Dec 14 – Assistant Minister for Roads Lee Kinyanjui has called on all road users to exercise care during this festive season to avoid road accidents.
Kinyanjui said that the role of the police is to enforce the law but that the primary responsibility to stop accidents lay on road users.
Kinyanjui, who spoke during the launch of a road safety campaign by the Kenya Urban Roads Authority and the Kenya traffic police, said the government had already acquired speed guns to ensure compliance with speed limits.
“Police will always be there to help us but everybody has a responsibility for his own life. We will allocate to major highways but as yet we do not have the capacity for every highway.”
“Drivers should take care and passengers should also speak out before an accident occurs,” he added.
Deputy Traffic Commandant Samuel Kimaru said that the police would be vigilant to ensure compliance with traffic rules.
He said that 3,092 people had died through road accidents as at the December 13, 2011, and the majority of those are pedestrians at 1466. During the same period 8,206 people were seriously injured.
Kimaru warned that police would step up measures to check on speeding, over loading and drink driving.
“Even the passenger who will be found to have boarded vehicles as excess passengers will be charged alongside the drivers of the vehicles, so they should take heed,” he said, reiterating that the use of breathalyzers was gazetted and would be used to test drunk drivers.
Of the deaths recorded as at December 13, 768 are passengers, 265 are drivers, 286 are motorcyclists, 141 motorcycle passengers and 141 were bicycle riders.
Kimaru urged the public to report to the police any incidences or information of vehicles being driven badly on hotline numbers 0208074602 or 0202603814
The road safety campaign will continue till December 28.
By LORDRICK MAYABI

