Govt bans proboxes and other small wagons from operating as PSVs, again

Source: Capital FM Kenya
Author: Sharon Resian

NAIROBI. Kenya, Apr 10 -- Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has prohibited the use of Voxies, Proboxes, Noahs, and Sientas as Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) in response to rising cases of road carnage.

Murkomen's announcement on Tuesday came amid public criticism over the failure of the government to ensure order on roads amid gross traffic violations including delayed removal of stalled vehicles on major highways.

He promised prosecution of offenders under the Traffic Act.

Murkomen also mandated that all commercial and PSVs have speed limiters installed to prevent accidents and protect lives, promising punitive action against offenders.

He said that the National Transport Safety Authority (NTSA) Intelligent Road Safety Management System (IRSMS) will onboard the speed limiters for effective monitoring of the drivers' speed.

"To prevent accidents and protect lives, we hereby issue a further directive for immediate compliance with KS 2295 - 2018 on maximum road speed limiters for motor vehicles to ensure speed limiters fitted on PSVs and commercial vehicles are functional, limiting speed, storing data, transmitting speed data every five seconds and onboarded onto the NTSA Intelligent Road Safety Management System ( IRSMS)," the CS said flanked by NTSA and traffic enforcement teams led by Police Inspector General Japhet Koome.

He ordered all commercial and PSV vehicles to undergo compliance within 30 days or risk licence revocation.

Additionally, the government will reinspect school buses before the commencement of the second term to ensure they comply with various standards.

School vehicles transporting children will only operate between 6am and 7pm, Murkomen affirmed.

"As public engagements on the Draft Traffic (School Transport) Rules 2024 advance, all learning institutions are required to present their vehicles for inspection by May 1, 2024, to assess their mechanical soundness and whether the speed limiters installed on them are functional," he said.

Murkomen asked the National Police Service (NPS) and NTSA to heighten night enforcement and random checks along major highways, especially on blackspots.

He directed the prompt removal of stalled vehicles at owners' cost even as he called for the detention of PSV conductors whose vehicles carry excess passengers.

Passengers will face similar sanctions, he said.

Murkomen's ministry came under heavy criticism on Tuesday after it emerged that an accident at Ngata Bridge in Nakuru arose from a stalled truck that remain on location since Sunday.

Eight people died after a van transporting fifteen people crashed on the stationary truck.