Written by Rosemary Wachiye 2011-06-28 18:06:00 Read 141 Times |  |
Busy highway.
There have been a lot of road accidents along the Webuye-Bungoma highway in the past 2 months, most of them caused by careless driving and ignorance by the drivers, the bad condition of the road and the narrowness of the road.
Heavy commercial trucks transporting different goods from Kenya to Uganda via Malaba border have also contributed to many of the road accidents.
However, small vehicles and personal cars are not an exception as they have equally contributed and involved in many accidents costing precious lives.
A truck driver being rescued after he rammed into a building along Bungoma - Kanduyi road.
In a recent case of careless driving, a driver of a public van commonly referred to as Nissan Matatu, through negligence and deliberately after dropping of passengers at a stage, entered the road without checking on the road for any oncoming or overtaking vehicle hence ramming head on with an oncoming personal car.
The culprits in such incidences, who are drivers on the wrong, have been known to speed off from the scene of accident to escape arrest or the wrath of residents.
The most recent case of careless driving happened when I was in a matatu headed to work, to my surprise the driver of the vehicle had a water bottle but unfortunately the bottle fell out the window, the driver suddenly stepped on the brakes stopping the vehicle in the middle of the road to pick up his water bottle without considering the lives of the passengers on board.
And as the driver struggled to stop the vehicle, an over speeding truck almost hit the Matatu sending it to the bushes were it not for the steady truck driver who managed to evade the Matatu.
The shaken Matatu driver even after cheating death by a whisker and endangering the lives of the passengers kept on complaining and mourning of losing his bottle he was to buy paraffin with.
In another incident, students from Bishop Sulmeti Girl’s high school-Elelemuk, sustained serious injuries after allegedly, their driver lost control. Such young upcoming Kenyans at such a tender age and yet that accident almost cost their lives.
In my concern to know what could really be the matter, I talked to a long time driver plying the Eldoret- Malaba route Mr. Ken Barasa who said, “the number of accidents on the Bungoma Webuye road are on the rise because of the high speed that the truck drivers along the road drive with as well as carelessness by matatu drivers.”
He also disclosed that some of the matatu drivers may not be qualified to be on the roads.
“Some of the matatu drivers just came from being touts in to driving, some don’t have driving licenses, since they didn’t undergo driving lessons and if they have they might be fake and not from a recognized driving school,” said Mr.Barasa
What is shocking enough is the conspicuous availability of traffic policemen on the Kenyan roads and yet they fail to detect such faulty drivers yet they are costing lives of people in a very massive way.
The drivers on the road, with good driving training must be able to know how best to drive on such narrow roads that have potholes, but most of the drivers never seem to have learnt that.
The government is doing quite a lot to expand on the road but at a very snail speed, since the road has been dug but there is no construction that is underway.
The traffic police should also do their work in ensuring that such drivers are not ignorantly costing any more lives
Read more: http://www.westfm.co.ke/index-page-news-bid-2660.htm#ixzz1QeRxkcDw
No matter what you call it, careless driving is one of the most usual causes of accidents all around the world. Unfortunately, nothing can be done to prevent any distractions when you're behind the wheel. And always there are innocents that pay a certain price.
ReplyDeleteVehicular accidents seem to be tougher because you have to distinguish if it is an accident or an even caused by negligence. The usual causes of road mishaps are over-speeding, drunk driving, and more recently, cell phone usage while driving. Legally, these are cases which can be defended. There are specialized lawyers who can handle such a task. But that does not give anybody the privilege to be irresponsible on the road.
ReplyDeleteMarlin Sayle
Reckless driving is a serious traffic offense. These drivers ignore basic safety laws on speed limit, DUI and other offenses like swerving and repeatedly driving through red lights. The main concern with reckless driving is that it poses a risk to the driver and the people surrounding the area. These drivers should be trained again to make them understand why they need to follow traffic laws.
ReplyDeleteJavier Hoppes