Night travel banned in Kenya due to fatal accidents

Monday, January 1, 2018

In a bid to prevent accidents that have so far claimed 200 lives in the month of December, the Kenyan government banned long-distance public service vehicles from traveling at night.

Francis Meja, the Director General of National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA)  said that the ban effective from Dec. 31 prohibits buses ferrying passengers to long distances from operating beyond 7 p.m.

He further mentioned over the recent past, their records indicated that majority of crashes took place  during night. To review the effectiveness of the current measures in place and  improve road safety, they suspended night travel for long distance public service vehicles.

The announcement was made after the ban came a few hours after a horrific accident involving a bus and trailer claimed 36 lives along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway at dawn on Sunday.

The bus was heading to Nairobi from the border town of Busia, it carried 46 passengers when it collided with an oncoming trailer.

The authorities intensified the probe into the cause of the crash in an accident black spot where more than 100 lives have been lost in the month of December.

Meja said that they would like to reiterate that action will be taken on motorists who flout traffic rules through over-speeding that often leads to accidents.

Public had been assured that all is being done to address the upsurge of fatal crashes across the country an appeal to all motorists to be extra vigilant had been made.

The government will implement a raft of new measures to minimize accidents on the roads and major highways.

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