NTSA Rolls Out Rules Motorists, Parents Must Follow Ahead Of School Reopening
The Authority thus reminded all road users to adhere to the Highway Code, remain cautious, and reduce speed to ensure the children's well-being.
Marvin Chege 
With the country's schools set to reopen on Monday, January 6 for the new academic year, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) issued directives to motorists to ensure safe travels back to school.
"As the festive season ends and the new academic school calendar begins, the Authority urges all road users to prioritize the safety of our children as they travel back to school.
"This is a collective responsibility, and every effort must be made to prevent crashes that might result in fatalities or injuries," stated NTSA on Saturday, January 4.
A group of school girls walking on the streets of Nairobi. /NMG
NTSA revealed that during the multi-agency road safety compliance checks across the country, there have been cases of blatant disregard for basic traffic rules. The Authority warned that if left unchecked, such behaviours may threaten the safety of Kenyan children during this period.
The Authority thus reminded all road users to adhere to the Highway Code, remain cautious, and reduce speed to ensure the children's well-being.
"Private motorists, public service vehicle operators, school management and parents/guardians have a huge responsibility in ensuring the safety of our children," added NTSA.
Motor vehicles used to transport children were mandated to have valid insurance, roadworthy, fitted with functional speed limiters that transmit data to the NTSA Intelligent Road Safety Management System (IRSMS).
The vehicles were also required to meet all licensing requirements including valid road service licenses, and inspection certificates among others.
This is in line with a directive by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi to NTSA to rein in illegal and unlicensed PSVs to prevent them from operating as passenger transport vehicles during this period.
To ensure that the vehicles have these mandatory requirements, NTSA has directed parents to verify this before letting their children board.
"We urge parents, guardians, caregivers and the public to utilize the free NTSA Mobile App available on the Google Play Store, to verify essential details of Public Service Vehicles, drivers and conductors before allowing children to board the vehicles. To ensure their safety, children MUST NOT BE ALLOWED to board NON-COMPLIANT VEHICLES," added NTSA.
Given that children are vulnerable road users, NTSA called for collaborative efforts to be made to ensure their safety, noting that in the past, community participation has helped rid our roads of rogue motorists.
The authority thus called on all citizens to continue advocating for road safety by being on the lookout and reporting non-compliant vehicles and reckless drivers, adding that necessary actions will be taken against motorists endangering the lives of road users.
Furthermore, NTSA announced that multi-agency road safety compliance checks and the Usalama Barabarani education programme will continue nationwide to ensure the safety of school-going children.
