Do Mombasa drivers know the speed limits for the different areas?
A survey by the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety carried out during the ‘Slow Down, Speeding Ruins Lives’ campaign in December shows that most drivers in Mombasa County do not know their limits.
According to the survey, while 71 percent of drivers claimed to know the speed limits while driving, only one percent gave the correct answer.
“This means that 99 percent do not know the speed limits,” said Tsion Kiros, Communication Manager at Vital Strategies.
Kiros was speaking during a Journalist Training Workshop on Enforcement and Behavior Change, organized by BIGSS, the Global Road Safety Partnership, and other stakeholders.
So what are the limits?
Speed limits in the country are generally 110km/h on dual-carriage highways and 100km/h in single-carriage highways for private vehicles.
“It is 80km/h for commercial and public service vehicles, and most of them are fitted with speed governors. For a tuk-tuk, the maximum speed limit is 60km/h with a 5km/h allowance, the limit is also indicated on the tuk-tuk. For tractors, it is also 60km/h,” said Ibrahim Abdalla from the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA).
According to the Traffic Amendment Act 2024, the maximum speed limit around trading centers, towns, municipalities, and cities is 50km/h.
You are also not allowed to drive any vehicle at a speed exceeding 50km/h on any road within the boundaries of a nursery, primary or secondary school or any area used by children when crossing to and from school as may be designated as a pedestrian crossing by the Kenya National Highways Authority.
KeNHA is also mandated to erect and maintain traffic signs that indicate to drivers that they are entering or leaving such roads or areas where the 50km/h speed limit restriction begins and ends.