A section of Madogo and Mororo residents in Tana River county have urged the Kenya National Highway Authority (KeNHa) to erect bumps on black spots along Garissa – Madogo road to save lives.
Talking to KNA on phone Thursday, Hussein Kone, a matatu driver said that section of the road has two black spots that has claimed several lives in the past few months.
His concerns come barely two days after three people were killed when the motorbike they were travelling on rammed into an oncoming bus, two Kilometers from Garissa town on the Garissa-Nairobi highway. The three including a rider and two female passengers died on the spot in the 10 am accident. The motorbike was extensively damaged.
According to an eye witness, the bodaboda rider was trying to overtake a probox both headed to Garissa town at corner punda area only to collide with the bus headed to Nairobi.
Kone said that KeNHa should mark the two sites as black spots and put road bumps to warn motorists and especially bodaboda riders plying the Garissa – Nairobi highway.
“Bodaboda riders are paying the highest price. Over 90 percent of the accidents involve bodaboda riders. Something must be done now before we lose more lives,” Kone said.
“This accident could have been avoided if the section of the road had bumps. Our drivers and the bodaboda riders should also be careful when driving on this section of the road,” he added.
He also asked the police traffic department and National Transport Safety Authority (NTSA) to hold regular meetings on road safety. “I also blame the bodaboda riders for being reckless. They overload their bikes, over speed and also overtake other motorists on sharp corners and from the wrong side,” he regretted adding that a majority of the riders never went to any driving school and thus don’t understand road safety regulations.
“I am sorry to say that some of these riders are below 18 and have no ID cards and driving licenses. We must get rid of these riders to make our roads safer,” Kone noted.
By Jacob Songok
