It’s time to discuss rules governing VIP transport

This undated photo shows Nyeri Governor Wahome Gakuru addressing an event. The death of the governor should be a wake-up call for road safety enforcement agencies to come up with a policy on how VIPs should be chauffeured. FILE PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • It is important now for the country to debate how VIPs use public roads before another fatality is reported.
  • It is therefore important that new rules and regulations on how VIPs are chauffeured are put in place.

In countries like the United Kingdom, prospective taxi drivers have to undergo rigorous tests, after months of preparations, before they can be licensed to drive in cities like London.

Part of their training involves route mastery and aptitude tests, which one must pass with a high mark before they can be allowed behind the wheel.

It is important for road safety policy makers and agencies like the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to bear this in mind today as the people of Nyeri County lay their governor to rest after he died in a road accident on the Nairobi-Nyeri road.

GUIDELINES
The death of Governor Wahome Gakuru should be a wake-up call for road safety enforcement agencies to come up with a policy on how VIPs should be chauffeured.

Key components of that policy must include driver recruitment and training, including refresher courses, mental and physical fitness tests, how to handle emergency situations, defensive driving, first aid competence for those travelling with the VIPs, route knowledge and vehicle maintenance.

These should be over and above the basic training in traffic regulations such as observing prescribed speed limits and ensuring the general safety of other road users, including pedestrians and motorcyclists.

ROAD SAFETY
It is saddening that the late Governor Gakuru was allowed to embark on a journey that would have taken close to two hours in a vehicle that was known to be faulty.

Worse, as his successor noted during the requiem mass last week, the governor had protested on four occasions that his official vehicle exposed him to safety risks.

But how many other VIPs face the same risks routinely?

More importantly, what steps ought to be taken to ensure that other VIPs do not face the same risks that Gakuru was exposed to and which ultimately claimed his life?

PUBLIC ROADS

The latter is a particularly important question given the political situation that Kenya finds itself in today.

If, by happenstance, the governor had been rubbing the government of the day the wrong way, it would have been difficult to convince a skeptical public that his accident was a road safety and not political problem.

And since most VIPs, including ambassadors, have over time demonstrated alarming disregard for road safety rules, it is important now for the country to debate how VIPs use public roads before another fatality involving a high profile personality is reported.

It is therefore important that new rules and regulations on how VIPs are chauffeured – and what they should do when they are driving themselves – are put in place to prevent a scenario where the death of a VIP can trigger a political or security crisis.

MOTORISTS

And once they are passed, they must be robustly enforced for the good of all road users.

After all, such rules are not only important for the leaders.

They will also protect the lives of ordinary motorists and address critical issues about how both wananchi and their leaders can use public roads while ensuring each other’s safety.

They should address even mundane considerations, such as what a motorist ought to do if required to give way to a VIP in sections of a road that are narrow, congested, lack shoulders or expose other road users to risk.

DISCIPLINE

One of the key issues that such rules and regulations must address is driver behaviour in risky and emergency situations.

This is not only a question of training but also of mental aptitude and discipline.

This, in turn, goes to the very heart of recruitment, raising the bar for such appointments.

Mr Mbugua is the Editor of the Saturday Nation. [email protected]