Reckless motorists may face life in prison

The police are proposing that motorists who cause fatal roads accidents be jailed for life. The traffic commandant, Aggrey Adoli, says that there is need to change the Traffic Act so that drivers who cause accidents through reckless driving get harsh penalty. “We should think of having the penalties revised so that they are equivalent to when someone commits murder,” he told reporters. The traffic boss went on to say that if adopted, the harsh punishment would not be applied uniformly in all accidents but to reckless drivers only.
46 lives have been claimed by accidents recently across the country. Some 389 people were involved in road accidents, of these188 were seriously injured and 156 escaped with slight injuries. 551 accidents occurred in total recently, 33 of them were fatal, 93 serious and 55 slight.
Mr. Adoli also said the government collects almost KSh 12 million every week in crack downs targeting motorists who flout traffic regulations. He said, recently, 3,051 drivers, 1,722 public service vehicle conductors, 735 passengers and 658 touts were arrested in crackdowns and the fines they paid amounted to Ksh. 12, 399, 950. In January the government collected Ksh. 54, 760, 800. Many people arrested prefer to plead guilty in court rather than stand trial.