A driver blows an Alcoblow machine to test alcohol consumption along West road, in Nakuru Town. Police will from today carry out random drank driving tests in major towns in the country. [File, Standard]
The National Police Service will carry out a nationwide operation to curb road accidents and enhance road safety.
According to a statement released by Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai on Friday, the rising cases of road accidents across the country were attributed to failure by drivers to comply with basic safety requirements.
"To this end, the National Police Service will undertake nationwide enforcement operations to address factors such as speeding, lane indiscipline, assessment of general compliance with public service vehicle (PSV) licensing requirement, a crackdown on unroadworthy vehicles among other traffic offences," he stated.
Police will also carry out random drunk driving tests in major towns in the country beginning Friday 9 to reduce fatalities emanating from road accidents.
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A report by the National Transport Safety Authority (NTSA) indicates that 60 people have been killed in October alone making it necessary to carry out the operations.
Mutyambayi said officers carrying out the said operations will ensure that Covid-19 protocols are adhered to.
"We assure the public that measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 shall be in place when undertaking these activities," he said.
The NTSA report indicates that 2,689 persons were killed between January 1 and September 30, 2020, compared to the same period last year when 2,655 were killed in road accidents, translating into a 1.3 per cent increase.
During the same period, motorcyclists and pillion passengers deaths increased by 44.94% and 19.44% respectively.
Compared to 2019, pillion passengers killed by accident increased by 49 fatalities after 301 pillions were killed compared to 252 in 2019.
The number of motorcyclists killed also increased after 774 died between January and September this year compared to 534 people in the same period last year representing 44.9 per cent increase.
Pedestrians killed in road accidents however reduced after 971 people were killed compared to 1030 in 2019 between January and September.
Also on the decline is the number of drivers and passengers killed by road accident after 233 and 342 died in 2020 compared to 249 and 537 respectively in 2019.
