Transport cabinet secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has announced new measures aimed at curbing road accidents involving school buses.
Speaking on Thursday, April 4, the CS said the new measures include fitting all school vehicles with vehicular telematics, a high-tech system that empowers owners to improve vehicle management, boost efficiency, track fleets, and prevent downtime.
The new technology will further help the school administrations to monitor in real-time how the driver is operating to protect the lives of those onboard.
“We would want accountability from our schools on how they manage their drivers, the vehicles and how they maintain them,” Murkomen stated.
“I will be giving direction together with Education CS on how all schools will be required mandatorily to install vehicular telematics in the school buses. We will hope that the technology will be affordable for our schools,” he added.
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The CS said previously, trucks would also cause a lot of accidents that have since reduced since some transport companies installed them with telematics complete with dash cameras.
“These companies are able to monitor their drivers from Mombasa to Malaba and even Kampala. If a driver is allowed to sleep over, they are able to call and instruct them to stop.”
Murkomen’s directive follows a series of accidents involving school buses that the country has witnessed in recent weeks.
The latest deadly accident involved a Kenyatta University bus that collided with a truck in Voi last month, leaving 11 students dead and 42 others injured.
”The driver of the bus was overtaking a fleet of vehicles, and it was raining heavily,” police said, adding that the bus swerved to the right side of the road to avoid hitting the lorry, which hit one side and ripped it off, killing 10 students on the spot.
The latest data from the National Transport and Safety Authority(NTSA) indicate that 7,198 Kenyans were involved in road accidents between January 1 and April 1 2024.
This is an increase of 1,908 compared to the 5,290 reported in a similar period last year. NTSA notes that 1,189 of the 7,198 people died from road accidents, 3,316 were seriously injured, and 2,693 suffered from minor injuries.
The tragedies have raised serious concerns about road safety and the need for enhanced measures to prevent further losses of lives on Kenyan roads.