A group of Thika residents on Sunday took to the road and bus termini to raise awareness on road safety following numerous road accidents.
Marching along the Thika Superhighway and within Thika town, they raised issues that promote self-regulation among drivers.
The private initiative dubbed 'keep left unless overtaking and I support safe driving' was necessitated by rampant accidents caused by human error on the part of the drivers who ignore traffic rules.
Fredrick Giturwa alias Kinyambi 1960, one of the organisers of the initiative, said it’s a small gesture but it can help.
“We realised that most accidents are caused by our own mistakes as drivers and if each one of us took individual responsibility on our actions on the road, we can drastically reduce road carnage," he said.
Kinyambi said there is so much anger on our roads especially along Thika Road. Some road users break simple rules that affect others.
"One of the basic rules is to always keep left unless when overtaking but you find most motorists ignore this rule, causing obstruction,” he added.
Kinyambi said that was the reason they were pasting keep left unless overtaking stickers on the rear of the vehicles to keep reminding the drivers of their responsibility to maintain their lanes.
James Ng’ang’a who is popularly known on social media circles as Jaymo wa Thika acknowledged the need for all players on the roads to play their part regardless of whether there was a police officer or not.
“There is a tendency of Kenyan road users to adhere to traffic rules only when there is a police officer on sight. It is as though they are doing it for the law enforcement and not for their own safety.
"As much as we keep blaming the police for everything bad happening on the road, the buck stops at us,” he said.
Ng’ang’a added that if all of road users behaved well on the road, the police would have no choice but to follow suit as this would reduce bribes.
“Corruption and bribery on the roads thrive because of disorder among the players. If we all adhered to traffic rules, it will be very hard for an officer to demand for a bribe.
That’s the order of the day in developed countries and even our Rwandan neighbours. This is the reason there are very few accidents compared to Kenya where the rule of the jungle and bullying has become the norm,” he said.
Thika MP Patrick Wainaina said just as in the spirit of community policing, time is ripe for Kenyans to take personal responsibility for their actions or inaction.
Wainaina told drivers to be mindful of their lives and the lives of their passengers. He urged them to exercise caution while on the roads.
“Road carnages are on the rise and it has been the case during festive seasons. I urge motorists to maintain discipline on the roads,” he said.
The MP said the major of cause of carnages especially along the major roads is speeding. He urged drivers to self-regulate while on transit.
"Don't be in a hurry. You better reach your destination late and safe than perish on the road while rushing," he said.
Wainaina urged the traffic police as well as the NTSA to ensure sanity on the roads and crack down on motorists flouting traffic rules.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
