Ongoing mandatory tests for public service vehicle drivers seeking to renew their licenses have revealed worrying statistics about the fitness of a majority of them.
This is because only 18 per cent of those tested by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) between June 9 and Friday last week passed the written and applied theory tests being conducted at the authority’s vehicle inspection centre along Likoni Road in Nairobi.
According to NTSA Deputy Director and Head of Safety Compliance, Driver Training and Testing Wilson Tuigong, out of the 302 drivers tested so far, only 54 have passed.
“This shows that the pass rate is 18 per cent, which we mainly attribute to the prolonged lack of a uniform driving curriculum across the country and the previously easily accessible licences, which created room for unqualified drivers to acquire them,” said Mr Tuigong.
“In 2018, we came up with rules and a curriculum that would standardise driver training, but it was then rejected by Parliament. We started the process again in 2019 and on March 10, 2020, the rules were gazetted,” he added. The changes also resulted in the change of driving test examiners from members of the National Police to NTSA officers.
He explained that some of those who failed were unable to identify road signs on diagrams pinned to the walls of the test rooms, while others were unable to explain how to follow the rules of a model town board, which is part of the basic driving training.
“We use the UN traffic signs, which have not changed since 1966, but people still cannot identify some of them,” he said.
Medical examination
The retests are ongoing for commercial and PSV drivers and are a prerequisite for the renewal of licences for classes B3, D1, D3, C, C1.CE and CD, which include buses, 14-seater matatus, school buses and taxis. The re-testing began on June 9 following a directive by Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen.
He also ordered that “from July 1, all PSV and commercial vehicle drivers will be required to undergo a mandatory medical examination by a qualified medical practitioner before renewing their licence. In addition, all trainee drivers will be expected to provide a medical certificate prior to taking the NTSA driving test”.
Section 105A(1) of the Transport Act states that a driver of a public service vehicle or commercial vehicle shall undergo a physical fitness test, including an eye and hearing test, by a qualified medical practitioner after every year from the date of issue of a driver’s licence under Section 30 or renewal of such licence.
The retesting and ongoing crackdown on uninspected vehicles and drunk drivers are part of the multi-agency measures being taken by the departments of Transport and Internal Security to curb the rising number of accidents in the country.
Statistics from the Economic Survey show that 21,757 people lost their lives on Kenyan roads in 2022, an increase of 5.5 per cent from the 20,625 deaths recorded in 2021.
Previously, driving schools would develop their own curricula to train drivers, who would also have easy access to licences. Today, the licence application process has been tightened, with applicants having to apply for a provisional licence, before booking a driving test with NTSA, after which those who pass apply for a licence. NTSA said the focus is currently on retesting PSV and new drivers, but after a month the same will be extended to drivers of commercial vehicles.
Pay instant fine
“Private drivers are not subject to the retests, but will soon be forced to pay instant fines and go through demerit points, where a driver gets 20 points on renewing their licence, but loses them when charged with an offence. If the points reduce to 12, the licence renewal will be refused until the driver has gone back for training,” Mr Tuigong added.
“A driver can undergo refresher training at a driving school of their choice before taking the re-test or after failing the test,” NTSA said in a statement.
Those applying for a three-year licence will be retested after three years, while those opting for the annual licence will be retested when their licences expire. The retests will be conducted continuously in Nairobi and at the NTSA’s driver test units across the country.
