{"id":10009,"date":"2026-01-07T20:55:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T20:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/10009\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T20:55:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T20:55:09","slug":"police-order-crackdown-after-31-die-in-road-crashes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/10009\/","title":{"rendered":"Police order crackdown after 31 die in road crashes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                                <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ZJgiT33jZ89noQCkV1w6ouLQMluPU7pJElLjqoro.jpg\" width=\"800\" height=\"500\"\/><br \/>\nSome of the wreckage at Sachangwan Police Post after an accident along the Eldoret\u2013Nakuru Highway. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard].<\/p>\n<p class=\"card-text\">The National Police Service (NPS) has raised alarm over a surge in road traffic accidents that have claimed at least 31 lives in the first six days of 2026, terming the trend a national crisis that demands urgent action.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"card-text\">In a statement issued by the Police Spokesperson Muchiri Nyaga, NPS said the fatalities have been accompanied by devastating injuries and widespread destruction of property, outcomes it described as \u201cunacceptably alarming\u201d.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"card-text\">Following the recent spike in fatalities, the Inspector General has ordered immediate, stringent and continuous high-visibility enforcement across the country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"card-text\">&#8220;Under the new directive, Regional, County and Sub-County Traffic Police Commanders have been instructed to intensify operations targeting speeding, drunk driving, unroadworthy vehicles and compliance by public service vehicles (PSVs),&#8221; the statement read in part.<\/p>\n<p>                                <a href=\"https:\/\/whatsapp.com\/channel\/0029Va0PRAYGk1Fo4ODHAg0b\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Follow The Standard<br \/>\n                                    channel<br \/>\n                                    on WhatsApp<\/a><br \/>\n                                <\/p>\n<p class=\"card-text\">Breathalyser tests will also be stepped up, with courts on standby to deal decisively with offenders.<\/p>\n<p class=\"card-text\">The police said targeted operations would be enhanced at known accident blackspots, guided by data from crash-mapping systems.\u00a0\n        <\/p>\n<p class=\"card-text\">&#8220;Preliminary analysis of the crashes indicates that most were caused by preventable human error, including reckless driving, speeding, driver fatigue and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs,&#8221; the statement read in part.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"card-text\">At the same time, the police also cited persistent violations by boda boda riders, such as riding against traffic and using pedestrian walkways.<\/p>\n<p class=\"card-text\">While enforcement remains central, the service emphasised that road safety also depends on shared responsibility and basic common sense.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"card-text\">Motorists, pedestrians, cyclists, boda boda riders and passengers were urged to obey traffic rules, especially as pupils and students return to schools and colleges.<\/p>\n<p class=\"card-text\">The NPS also appealed to PSV owners, Saccos and boda boda associations to strengthen self-regulation by installing and monitoring speed governors, managing driver fatigue through proper shift schedules and ensuring regular vehicle maintenance.<\/p>\n<p>                                <a href=\"https:\/\/whatsapp.com\/channel\/0029Va0PRAYGk1Fo4ODHAg0b\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Follow The Standard<br \/>\n                                    channel<br \/>\n                                    on WhatsApp<\/a><br \/>\n                                <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some of the wreckage at Sachangwan Police Post after an accident along the Eldoret\u2013Nakuru Highway. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard].&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10010,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[80,1565,7024,7025],"class_list":{"0":"post-10009","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kenya","8":"tag-kenya","9":"tag-nps","10":"tag-road-accidentsboda-boda","11":"tag-traffic-crackdown"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}