Erect proper road signs
A warning sign of beware of cows on the road.
What you need to know:
- The makeshift speed bumps are often sub-standard and without signage.
- To avoid road crashes, the illegal speed bumps should be demolished.
The boda boda sub-sector has lately received a lot of media attention, albeit for the wrong reasons. But the spotlight has awakened discussions on the need to streamline not just boda boda but the transport industry in totality.
While there is no doubt that rogue road users should face swift justice for harassing others, recent events might be exploited to re-engineer other reforms in the transport sector, including erection of proper road signs at the appropriate places.
Road signs provide essential information on how to navigate our roadways—from rural access routes to the metropolitan roads and highways. Signage tells road users what to expect and what they should do throughout the journey.
Clear, informative signage about distance, black spots, speed and direction not only ensures a smooth ride but also encourages road users to develop healthy habits for their own and others’ safety.
Speed bumps
In some rural areas, you will come across speed bumps erected without signage, many of them ‘wananchi bumps’ (erected by unqualified residents). Erected in an attempt at preventing accidents caused by speeding motorists, these illegal speed bumps, however, end up endangering the lives of all motorists, their passengers and even pedestrians.
It is not unusual to have a smooth drive past a location but be confronted by a bumpy and risky ride on return due to speed bumps hastily erected using stones and mud. Sadly, the speed bump erection spree occurs abruptly and even on newly constructed highways. The situation is compounded by a general absence of legal traffic signs and road markings.
The makeshift speed bumps are often substandard and without signage. They deface our roads, making nonsense of the huge investment in them.
To avoid road crashes, the illegal speed bumps should be demolished. For road safety, only authorised entities should be allowed to construct bumps and mount visible signage to direct road users.
Mr Wagunda is a communications lecturer at Rongo University. [email protected].
