The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) in collaboration with the Nakuru County traffic department have launched a month long crackdown on unroadworthy vehicles.
The swoop comes barely days after the authority ranked the county the second among accident prone areas in the country.
Speaking in Nakuru town on Monday after overseeing the launch, NTSA chairperson Lee Kinyanjui said their concern will be on private cars whose owners are the main perpetrators of the vice.
The swoop which will include traffic officers, their NTSA counterparts and officials from the Kenya Bureau of Statistics (Kebs) is aimed at bringing back sanity on different highways across the county.
“Among the things that will be inspected will be serviceable fire extinguishers, fully equipped first aid kit boxes and warning reflector triangle boxes,” Kinyanjui told reporters.
He further said Kebs officials will help ascertain the quality of the said tools arguing that the rise of fake products in the Kenyan market has also fuelled ignorance leading to more compromising situations that lead to accidents.
Traffic boss Charlton Mureithi called for cooperation saying the move is as a result of the concern about the swelling number of lives being lost.
“We are not harassing anybody, it’s the responsibility of all of us to ensure that life is protected at all times, so let’s cooperate with the officers on the ground to make the process a success,” he said.
The crackdown will be mounted along all major highways across the larger Nakuru County with officers set to stage vigorous inspections in all the sub-counties.