State agencies on the spot over lack of vital road safety signs

State agencies responsible for roads maintenance and supervision have been blamed for the ever increasing road accidents.

The agencies have been put on the spot for failure to ensure the erection of road signs especially in areas considered as black spots.

In Murang’a County, there have been a number of fatal road crashed along the Kenol-Murang’a road.

This year alone, 10 people have lost their lives in crashes at Ithe Rui bridge between Equatorial Nut Processors and the junction to Maragua town.

FATAL CRASHES

Last week, four people perished at the bridge after a car they were travelling in rolled and plunged into the river. This was two months after an assistant chief and a child died after a public service vehicle lost control hitting a university bus at the same spot.

The Kambiti Kwa Muthike to Kwa Samaki stretch along the Kenol-Nyeri road is another black spot where a number of pedestrians and passengers have died.

There are no speed bumps or road signs to warn of the sharp corners or a steep stretch along the road.

Among the mostly affected victims are the vendors who sell fish at Kwa Samaki, perhaps due to a sharp corner which is 100 meters from the area.

The newly-built Mukuyu-Kwa Samaki road has also become a death trap.

Over the past two months, three people have died along the road with the most recent case being that a man and his wife whose car plunged into a ditch.

ROAD SIGNS

Following the rising incidents in the region, the management of Sauna Driving School has decided to erect road signs along the busy Kenol-Murang’a road while at the same time urging the State agencies to do their work to avert more deaths on the roads.

The school’s director, Mr Moses Mwangi, Monday said that for a long time, the government has been blaming driving schools for poor training, forgetting that State agencies have failed in their mandate of ensuring that the roads have signs to warn motorists of any impeding danger.

Speaking at Ithe Rui bridge in Maragua after erecting the road signs, Mr Mwangi noted that motorists are the main victims of crashes since most do not understand the terrain of the road.

CAUTION DRIVERS

“If state agencies had erected the road signs to warn and caution motorists, we would not lose innocent souls along this area which has become a black spot,” he said.

On his part, Mr Fabina Njau said expanding the Kenol-Murang’a road will not be a solution if no road signs are put up.

“The Kenol-Nyeri road is expansive but people still die. The only solution even after expanding the Kenol-Murang’a road is erecting road signs to caution drivers on the status of the road ahead. State agencies must warn motorists of bumps, sharp corners, black spots and steep stretches in order to save lives,” Mr Njau said.