The new traffic system that will see Kenyan drivers subjected to a mandatory driving test is set to launch next year. The first phase of the process will target over 25,000 PSV drivers and it’s projected that tens of thousands of drivers will loose their driving licenses once the government effects the mandatory testing.

Once the re-testing kicks off, drivers who pass the driving test will be issued with smart driving licenses. The new permits are part of an automated system that will replace the traditional hard book driving licenses and number plates.

SMART DRIVING LICENCE

The new driving card system will run on global technology and it is hoped that it will safeguard integrity in the state’s licensing system as well as tame reckless driving on our roads.

A micro chip on the driving licence will bear personal details of the owner and officials will be able to access the information through a smart card. Drivers caught flouting traffic rules will have points digitally deducted from their smart driving license traffic and penalized for the offence while an exhaustion of points will render the digital licence invalid.

The system will give room for driver’s habits to be shared with the insurance industry and those with a record of being reckless will be required by the insurance to pay higher premiums. Read ‘Road safety and traffic laws going digital in Kenya’.

CAMERA SYSTEM

The government has also effected an integrated camera and traffic lights system that will have photos of any vehicle caught violating traffic taken. The photograph will then be sent to the registered owner of the vehicle who will be required to respond within a specified duration.

The cameras which are already being mounted in Nairobi are reported to have a face recognition device that will capture the driver on the offence. The camera system will also aid in curbing crime as it will help track stolen vehicles and those involved in committing crime as well.

The Transport Integrated Management System (TIMS) forms some of the recent measures being undertaken by the government under the Ministry of Transport to make road transport safer in the country.

The aim is to ensure that we have only sane drivers who comply with traffic rules on our roads which have for a long time been thronged by rogue drivers and as a result orchestrating the massive deaths on our roads that have become the order of the day.

Approximately, at least 15 people lose their lives due to road accidents every day therefore if well enforced the new traffic system will go a long way in bringing sanity on our roads, otherwise it will just be another million down the drain as a bigger font for corrupt government officials opens up.