NAIROBI, Kenya Jul 6 – Stakeholders in the driving school sector have urged the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to ensure that drivers undergo refresher training before their licenses are renewed in efforts to curb road accidents.
Led by Topride driving school chairman Richard Boro, the industry players affirmed that proper training could help halt the rising and increasing number of deaths resulting from road accidents as motorists will be equipped with updated road safety rules.
“Over the years Kenyan roads have been upgraded. Currently the country has bypass interchanges, road links, expressways roads that didn’t exist 10 years ago. So there is an urgent need for drivers, even those who have driven for the last 10 to 20 years, to go for refresher training, because the highway code changes with each new highway, expressway, bypass and new road link,” said Boro Topride driving school chairman.
He urged players in the sector to be at the forefront in championing road safety to avoid recklessness being exuded on the roads by motorists and drivers.
“The statistics are terrible. The country is losing more than 4000 people per year because of road accidents and then five times that number actually 20,000 People are now getting life changing injuries. These accidents are preventable but due to lack of proper training the accidents keep increasing,” added Boro Topride, driving school chairman.
According to Caroline Kamicha, CEO of Topride, driving schools should give students ample time to understand road safety rules by adding more lessons to learners.
Topride has been visiting schools, mentoring over 4000 students in secondary schools from Nairobi on the importance of road safety in efforts to champion professionalism and road safety training.
