It is now official. Stringent fines for motorists violating traffic rules are to be implemented. President Uhuru Kenyatta has endorsed the Traffic Amendment Bill which is aimed at streamlining traffic laws. The bill was proposed by Tiaty MP William Kamket.
Kamket moved the initially proposed bill before the House saying that if it was passed into law, the country would experience an active improvement in enacting traffic laws and imposing strict punishments on offenders.
Any driver who is arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drug overdose will now, by law, have a fine of Kshs. 100,000 imposed on their heads or face a jail term of 2 years or have both.
The fine fee has been stepped up 10 times from the previous 10,000 and the jail term has also been increased from one month. In addition to the fine and 2-year jail term, the driver’s license will be suspended for a minimum of one year.
Any driver caught over-speeding on designated highways and roads past the speed limits will have their licenses invalidated for up to 3 years. There is also the possibility of jail conviction for 6 months with a minimum fine of Kshs. 20,000.
The newly passed bill may now see the return of the use of Breathalyzers after it was scraped out by a Court of Appeal ruling in 2017. It was stated in the ruling that the Breathalyzer rules implemented by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) were illegal and poorly drafted. The law has also clarified who a drunk driver is and the measures to be taken against them.
“Any person, who is driving or attempting to drive or in charge of a motor vehicle on a road is under influence of an alcoholic drink or a drug beyond the prescribed limits shall be guilty of an offense.” States the law.
Breathalyzers will be used as an objective test to quantify scientific implications such as the prescribed limits. The tests shall only be administered by NTSA officers and Traffic Police Unit.
The newly issued Traffic Amendment Bill also notifies motorists that NTSA is now mandated with the powers to inspect motor vehicles more than 4 years from the date of manufacture with the authority to determine the intervals and frequency at which it will carry out inspections.
“Every vehicle that has been operated for a period exceeding four years from the recorded date of manufacture shall be subjected to inspection at intervals to be determined by the NTSA,” reads the Act.
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The amendments made in the Traffic Act will enable NTSA to hire private enterprises to carry out motor vehicle inspections on their behalf, with only 17 Inspection Units in Kenya. Previously, private car owners were paying between Kshs. 2,000 and Kshs. 3,900 for inspections based on the vehicle’s engine capacity.
The new law now allows NTSA to adjust the rates in line with the requirements of the legislation, which include the age and road worthiness of the vehicle.
NTSA’s first attempt to change the inspection rules dates back to 2019 in an attempt to tame increasing road accidents owing to unroadworthy vehicles.