The infamous alcoblow is back on the roads this festive season.
Nairobi Area traffic police boss Joshua Omukata fell short of confirming the news when contacted on Friday, only maintaining that the gadgets “have always been there”.
“We have always had breathalysers on the roads. It is not anything new,” he said in an interview with the Nation.
Highly placed sources within the security apparatus intimated that besides Nairobi, the gadgets will also be reinstated on roads in Mombasa and Kisumu starting starting Friday evening.
The devices were quietly withdrawn from the roads in November due to corruption.
As you work to avoid drink-driving, here are the other things to beware of this festive season:
Many accidents
Data from the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) shows at least 342 people died on the road in December 2018, “which translates to loss of approximately 11 lives each day”. A large number of them were pedestrians.
Stricter speed regulations
The NTSA and the traffic police have vowed to be stricter in enforcing speed limits on the roads, more so on public service vehicles (PSV). NTSA says that if any PSV is found to have broken the speed regulations, it will be barred from operating until it is inspected fully.
Dryer days ahead
The meteorological department predicts that between December 16 to 23: “Rainfall intensity is likely to reduce over several parts of the country. However, moderate occasional rainfall is expected to continue over southern half of the country.”
Black spots
Some of the areas listed as black spots include the Kinungi-Naivasha-Gilgil Toll Station stretch, the Timboroa-Burnt Forest route, the Tsavo-Maungu-Voi road section, the Awasi-Ahero road section, Waiyaki Way near the Kangemi flyover and the Nyeri-Nyahururu Road.