Reckless truck drivers turn Masara-Muhuru road into death traps
Residents of Masara town in Migori County are calling on the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to urgently intervene and help curb road carnages resulting from reckless drivers.
The call follows a series of fatal accidents that have occurred along the route in the recent past and which have claimed the lives of many people as well as maimed an uncountable number of other residents.
The most recent fatal accident involved a man and his son, who lost their lives on the spot after being hit by a speeding truck, leaving a third victim, who is the dead man’s wife, fighting for her life at Migori County Referral Hospital.
The accident sparked a day-long demonstration from the residents who came out in large numbers to express their anger mainly at truck drivers, who they accused of being the most dangerous drivers along the road.
The group who blocked the road with boulders and lit bonfires urged the government and especially the NTSA to take immediate action to tame the reckless drivers and erect bumps along the ever-busy road.
“We want the Lorries flouting the road safety regulations to be impounded and their drivers arrested to be a lesson to other motorists operating along this route and save lives of the local people,” said Collins Otieno.
Valentine Ogongo who is a local businessperson and a resident of Masara town claimed that they lose up to six people in a week, adding that some months they lose an average of 24 people in month.
“I have been in this town for over a decade now and I can attest that we lose roughly six to seven people in a week as most accidents involve bodaboda riders, pedestrians and a truck driven at high speed on this road; this is worrying,” lamented Ogongo.
Ogongo added that it is very unusual for youths of the town to be on the road rioting over accident and that the matter has touched their lives this time round forcing them to block the route, disrupting business along the road and bringing nearby markets to a standstill.
He called on the local traffic police to do serious inspection on truck drivers using the route, suspecting that majority are not trained to drive such heavy vehicles and hence they cause accidents.
“I call upon the traffic officers along this road to come and do a thorough inspection and weed out quack drivers operating along this road,” he pleaded.
Moreover, he called on the county government through the department of youths to conduct training on road safety to the youths in the area and help them secure valid driving license.
Masaka Steven, another resident of the town, blamed the tipper drivers for overlooking other road users like pedestrians and riders.
He said that the drivers do not consider their existence and hence knock them down unnecessarily while failing to adhere to all traffic rules.
He blamed the laxity of the traffic police for the failure to enforce strict adherence to the law, where most drivers are not authorised to drive but are allowed to operate the truck.
His concerns were also echoed by Brian Bob who decried that traffic police only arrest bodaboda riders and not truck drivers who most of the time are found flaunting traffic rules.
