Traffic emergency lacking
Getting stuck in traffic on a highway for 24 hours is not funny at all. But that is what happened at the weekend on the Nairobi-Mombasa highway. What started with Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) repairs on the road at Konza became a nightmare for travellers on Sunday night and most of Monday.
That cannot be an excuse, as the agency has the experience and expertise to ensure traffic flows amid road works. But that was nothing compared to the bridge collapse on the highway some years ago.
The incident necessitated the intervention of the military, who put up a temporary bridge. But this latest case smacks of incompetence by the KeNHA foreman and the traffic police, who could not mobilise emergency services. Normal traffic flow was only restored after trucks that had broken down were towed away on Monday afternoon.
Also squarely to blame are indisciplined motorists who fuel such chaos. A diversion created by the KeNHA staff was overwhelmed after a 40-foot truck fell across the highway, with impatient motorists on both sides of the road causing confusion for their lane indiscipline. This is a horrible experience the drivers and their passengers will not forget soon. Drivers attempting to overtake on the wrong side but end up bringing traffic flow to a stop are a menace that must be controlled.
Why isn’t there a traffic emergency police team that warns motorists of an incident ahead and guides them to a diversion to avoid getting into it and organises to clear the road blockage? Such a standby team would speed up the clearing of such hitches on the highways and other roads.
