Over 130 Public Service Vehicles (PSV) operators and drivers drawn from Kakamega, Busia, Vihiga and Bungoma have benefitted from a four-day sensitisation workshop on road safety.
The workshop organised by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) targeted operators and drivers of leading Saccos in the Western region, including West Tour Sacco, Hamazon, Msamaria Mwema Sacco Blue Marks, Favour, Blue Nile, and Western Cross.
NTSA sought to sensitise participants on road safety and effective communication and to give them a clear roadmap, following traffic rules as the December festive season approaches, which usually experiences increased road accidents.
Speaking during the closure of the workshop at Golf Hotel in Kakamega, Western Region, NTSA Director Wilson Sankei said the awareness campaign was meant to enable the operators and the drivers to adhere to traffic rules.
He said, “We are here to sensitise the operators and the drivers and ensure there is safety on our roads. We also want to ensure the drivers are disciplined and of high integrity.
“We have made sure that even as we continue enforcing traffic rules, we also continue sensitising motorists and other road users on the rules and why they should comply with them. As NTSA, we are appealing to all Kenyans to observe the traffic laws so that we can minimise the many accidents the country has always witnessed over the December period,” he said.
Stephen Mashika from Msamaria Mwema Sacco, who spoke on behalf of the drivers, lauded NTSA for organising the workshop, saying it has refreshed their road safety awareness.
“We have learnt a lot. I would henceforth urge my colleagues to participate in such workshops whenever they are invited,” he said.
Mashika appealed to NTSA to strictly enforce the traffic rules and ensure the signage is more visible in order to make the roads safer.
The participants were taken through the Traffic Act and NTSA standards, mandatory driver and vehicle documentation, vehicle compliance and inspection and the rules every PSV driver must obey – including observing speed limits, lane discipline, ensuring passengers wear seatbelts and avoiding overloading.
By Godfrey Wang’anya and Annlinda Simiyu
