A parliamentary committee on transport led by Maina Kamanda has proposed new rectifications in the Traffic (Amendment) Bill.

The Traffic (Amendment) Bill, which is an Act of Parliament that is sponsored by Joseph Lekuton (Laisamis), was introduced in August last year. It sought to amend the Traffic Act, Cap 403 in order to ensure safety of children on the road especially around school or when using school transport and for enhancing speed limits enforcement measures.

Among the proposed amendments was to limit speed within school areas to 30 kilometer per hour. The Bill also mandates the Highway Authorities and county governments to erect, construct and maintain speed limiting road design features such as speed bumps, rumble strips, and traffic circles and traffic signs on such roads.

It also authorizes the Transport Cabinet Secretary to enact regulations on the maximum number of children that a school bus can carry and enact continuous inspection of vehicles carrying children to and from school.

The parliamentary committee however now seeks to have the speed limit near schools be revised to the current 50 Km per hour.

It also proposes for lower fines for offenders from the current maximum of Sh25, 000 to Sh20,000 and also for the introduction of statutory penalties for drivers exceeding the speed limit by fining them by the number of units by which speed is exceeded.

If the proposals of the committee are anything to go by, they will then render the whole objective to the Traffic (Amendment) Bill void.