Masara: Residents of Masara town in Migori County are calling on the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to urgently intervene and help curb road carnages resulting from reckless drivers. The call follows a series of fatal accidents that have occurred along the route in the recent past and which have claimed the lives of many people as well as maimed an uncountable number of other residents.
According to Kenya News Agency, the most recent fatal accident involved a man and his son who lost their lives on the spot after being hit by a speeding truck, leaving a third victim, the deceased man's wife, fighting for her life at Migori County Referral Hospital. The accident sparked a day-long demonstration from the residents who came out in large numbers to express their anger mainly at truck drivers, who they accused of being the most dangerous drivers along the road.
The protestors blocked the road with boulders and lit bonfires, urging the government and especially the NTSA to take immediate action to tame the reckless drivers and erect bumps along the ever-busy road. "We want the lorries flouting the road safety regulations to be impounded and their drivers arrested to be a lesson to other motorists operating along this route and save lives of the local people," said Collins Otieno.
Mr. Valentine Ogongo, a local businessperson and resident of Masara town, claimed that they lose up to six people in a week, adding that some months they lose an average of 24 people. "I have been in this town for over a decade now and I can attest that we lose roughly six to seven people in a week as most accidents involve bodaboda riders, pedestrians, and a truck driven at high speed on this road; this is worrying," lamented Ogongo.
Ogongo added that it is unusual for the town's youth to riot over accidents, highlighting the severity of the issue this time, which forced them to block the road, disrupting business and bringing nearby markets to a standstill. He called on the local traffic police to conduct serious inspections of truck drivers using the route, suspecting that the majority are not trained to drive such heavy vehicles, causing accidents.
"I call upon the traffic officers along this road to come and do thorough inspection and weed out quack drivers operating along this road," he pleaded. Moreover, he called on the county government through the department of youths to conduct training on road safety for the youths in the area and help them secure valid driving licenses.
Masaka Steven, another resident, blamed tipper drivers for overlooking other road users like pedestrians and riders. He said that the drivers do not consider their existence and hence knock them down unnecessarily while failing to adhere to all traffic rules. His concerns were echoed by Brian Bob, who decried that traffic police only arrest bodaboda riders and not truck drivers who most of the time are found flouting traffic rules.