[Nakuru County Governor Lee Kinyanjui in his office./Daily Nation]
Hours after a grisly accident that claimed 13 lives at the notorious Sachangwa black spot, this year`s Mashujaa Day celebrations were dominated by calls to motorists along the Nakuru Eldoret Highway to observe traffic rules during this festive season in a bid to curb road carnage.
In the celebrations that were marked with unusually minimal pomp at Afraha Stadium,Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui said the County Government will from tomorrow liaise with the traffic department and the National Transport and Safety Authority(NTSA) for a joint intervention that will help mitigate road accidents along the highway.
“Road safety is a collective responsibility that all road users must observe as a way of averting accidents which have claimed hundreds of lives in various parts of the country over the last one week,” Said Kinyanjui.
Governor Kinyanjui says the multi-agency intervention will involve sustained public sensitization drives on road safety as well as a deliberate crackdown on un-roadworthy vehicles and drivers flouting road safety rules.
“Kinyanjui said the move will zero in on areas around the 11 accident black spots identified by NTSA along the Naivasha-Nakuru -Eldoret highway,” he continued.
The Governor attributed a majority of road accidents along the highway to fatigue and carelessness among drivers and appealed to passengers to notify relevant agencies of reckless driving in a move he avers will help in de-escalating road carnage that is on the rise in the country.
The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has classified the highway as a dangerous area with as many as 11 black spots.
“Road safety professionals say over the last 21 years, 989 people have lost their lives in fatal accidents along the highway, 460 others over the last decade and another 23 people are reportedly dead this year and nearly all of the incidents have occurred at night.” Said the governor.
It is against this backdrop that stakeholders describe as unsettling that calls for immediate intervention from stakeholders have been intensified.