NTSA in the process of automating all vehicle inspection units in the country.

A section of the participants at the Road Safety Awareness Campaign hold a banner as they head to the Thika Sub-County Stadium.

The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) is in the process of automating all its 19 motor vehicle inspection centres across the country with a view to improving road safety.

Speaking during a road safety awareness campaign at Thika stadium, NTSA's Central Region Deputy Manager John Parteroi said the move will lead to a reduction in the number of staff working at the inspection centres from the current five.

“The exercise is part of the changes that NTSA is effecting in its bid to ensure road safety and curb corruption in the transport industry,” explained Parteroi.

While acknowledging that the move will improve efficiency in line with the evolving global car inspection trends, Parteroi said that the automation has already kicked off at the authority's main inspection centre at Likoni.

He added that the authority was also looking into investing in improving the current state of the inspection unit in Makongeni, Thika.

The event was also attended by the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of operations Mary Omari who sought to sensitise matatu operators, bodaboda riders and tuktuk operators in the constituency of the need for behavioral change in their operations.

“Over the past one year, we've recorded a 10% increase in the number of accidents as compared to the previous year. Most of these accidents are as a result of human error,” she noted.

She added that the campaign that has so far been to Narok, Bomet, Nyamira, Meru, Isiolo, Laikipia and Kiambu counties shall be carried out across the country as part of the traffic directorate's efforts to curb incidents of road carnage in the country.

Thika Traffic Base Commander Hellen Wamuyu Ndoria cautioned pedestrians crossing the Thika Superhighway at Njomoko area to be extra cautious as the had turned to an accident prone hotspot due to misjudgments in calculating the speed of oncoming vehicles as they crossed the highway.

Cases of pedestrians being hit by speeding motorists at the spot have been on the rise.

The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) is building a footbridge at the spot that is expected to be completed by December this year.

Kiambu Road CEC Dr. Juliet Kimemia noted that increased accidents were eating onto the profits gained by motorists as they were oftentimes being used to fund hospital bills and mortuary charges.

She thus called on the motorists to register for health insurance and adhere to all traffic regulations like avoiding overloading, providing bodaboda passenger helmets and so forth.