Two years after the Traffic Act was amended to allow for instant fines to be slapped on motorists who flout traffic rules, Kenyans should now brace themselves for its implementation which begins next month.
A task force is currently fine-tuning modalities on how the new rules will be effected by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), following a verdict by the High Court last week paving way for their implementation.
The law should have taken effect in 2016 but was temporarily suspended by the court.
According to Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i, the rules make economic sense since most of the traffic offenders held in remand “end up paying fines less than the amount the government spends to sustain them”.
Mr Robert Ngugi, NTSA deputy director of legal services, says that, before the amendments on the Traffic Act, it provided for the maximum penalty applicable for various traffic offences instead of a fixed penalty.
This, therefore, meant that the penalties applicable in each individual case had to be determined by the court.
The situation, which has prevailed to date because the application of the instant fines was suspended, has led to a huge backlog of traffic cases in court, time wastage (to the traffic offender, police and court), uncertainty as to the fine applicable, stigma and embarrassment to those taken to court, and use of significant resources in prosecuting minor offences.
The inconveniences involved, especially to the traffic offenders who would spend a whole day in court just to pay say Sh2,000 penalty, has encouraged some of them to issue bribes among other corrupt activities so as not to be taken through the whole process that is time consuming.
However, since section 117 of the Traffic Act empowers the Transport Cabinet Secretary to prescribe the penalty for minor offences, the amendments were developed to enhance certainty in handling minor offences, which has been lacking.
Kenya:New Traffic Law Ushers in Era of Instant Fines: [Nation] Two years after the Traffic Act was amended to allow for instant fines to be slapped on motorists who flout traffic rules, Kenyans should now brace themselves for its implementation which… https://t.co/Wwv8ug7Rji
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Two years after the Traffic Act was amended to allow for instant fines to be slapped on motorists who flout traffic rules, Kenyans should now brace themselves for its implementation which begins next month.https://t.co/nxpZvW7Zh6
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