Plan better to reduce road carnage

For a couple of weeks, it seemed as though whatever changes being put in place at the Transport docket were actually making a difference. But with the onset of the festive season, road carnage has started to make the front pages again, and with it, rising body count.

I hate the phrase body count because it dehumanises death, reduces life to mere numbers. But sometimes you have to distance yourself from the story to tell the story.

Kenyans have a penchant for peculiar behaviour, more so around the festive season.

Drinking and driving, and launching social media campaigns to enlighten each other on where the alcoblow boys are, have become more popular than keeping to the prescribed alcohol limits.

Clearly, no matter how many media campaigns are launched, we seem to be intent on living on the edge.

There is no limit to how much idiocy the holiday season brings out from sane people.

Have you ever heard someone regaling his mates with tales of how well his car knows its way home because he cannot remember how he drove (men, incidentally, are the only ones I have heard speak this way, but maybe that’s just me).

There are also people who claim that they drive better after a few drinks because they are more careful than when sober. Those are the first people who should be locked up and the keys thrown away until they learn their lesson.

Clearly if the NACADA team wants to be effective this holiday season, they should consider starting a campaign on social media. Smokescreens and deception are likely to be very good allies.

There is a particular group that is getting worse at traffic offences and their decline seems to be aided by the laws meant to keep them in check. Perhaps they are emboldened by relaxation of reforms for passenger vehicles.

Space ship

Most 29-seater buses, with their garish lights and bright artworks have a habit of striking overbearing stances on the roads in a dare-you-stand-in-my-way manner.

Coming across one of these at night, you’d be forgiven for momentarily thinking you’ve seen a space ship, they have enough exterior lighting to power a small village. It would be ok if the only qualms were aesthetics.

But they are badly driven, they overspeed and overlap without regard to other road users. If you’re unfortunate to get into an accident with any, they are the ones likely to take off from the scene.

They pull over to drop passengers at non-designated points without indicating and can cut you off your track easily. The ingenious ones use their hazard lights on the whole trip just so that you cannot accuse them of not indicating if you’re driving behind them.

From the way they drive, the majority of these drivers are under the influence of something more potent than their own egos.

Not only are they a menace on the road, they bully other road users and unfortunately, are protected by the same police who are meant to be keeping them in check.

This you will discover when you attempt to report an infraction, and suddenly you are treated not as a victim, but a transgressor!

To the credit of the police though, I have seen more traffic sentries at strategic stops, stopping trucks and other commercial road users.

In other areas, the yellow-coat-sporting council officials have taken up the role of policing road usage.

But their efficacy remains to be seen. Rules of the road are still being broken in a blatant manner, right under their watch.

I live in an area with significant construction trucks. Every so often, we encounter trucks carrying boulders, rocks or planks of timber.

In many cases, their cargo is unsecured and they overload. If you’re wise, you give them a wide berth, lest a runaway boulder finds itself on the hood of your car.

These trucks are almost always stopped by whoever is manning the road.

Reported accidents

But judging from the fact that they continue carrying their wares in the same way, I suppose the mandate of the law keepers does not allow them to intervene and keep other road users safe.

These trucks almost always break down on the middle of the road, causing obstruction and traffic snarl-ups. I think it makes more sense to check the road worthiness of these trucks before they are allowed on to the roads.

Given that over 30 per cent of reported accidents involve stationary, broken-down or badly-driven trucks, a review of road-worthiness of the vehicles or their drivers’ capabilities is necessary.

As you go about your festivities this December, remember the advert about ‘drinking and driving’ which shows that life goes on even after you’re gone. Do not be the one whose folly we’re left being warned of.