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Why have traffic lights if Nairobi motorists ignore them?
This the question that pedestrians surely ask themselves, as they stand watching the green man across the road, yet cars continue to soar past through red lights. This used to happen on Uhuru highway’s roundabouts, until the traffic police began to watch the traffic. Motorists still pass red lights on many streets in and around CBD, from University Way (and it’s right outside the police station!) to Moi Avenue, and no one bats an eyelid as people zoom through red lights. When one motorist does it, everyone else follows suit, like a herd of sheep.
Last Saturday one of our Nairobians team saw one motorist – and only one – get stopped by a policeman for passing through a red light. Two young women watched excitedly, scarcely believing their eyes, asking “Ameshikwa? Kweli?”, only for the motorist to be quickly released with a flick of the hand.
On dangerous roundabouts you can see motorists speeding up after orange has turned to red. Orange does not mean “step on the accelerator,” it means get ready to stop – i.e. slow down and brake to a halt. Some break abruptly when they see that they won’t make it, and they end up way beyond the white lines, so that pedestrians crossing the road have to zig zag behind and in front of cars. That’s dangerous because they can’t see if the lights have changed, and also a motorcyclist can zoom through the gaps in traffic and pose a danger to them. Do some motorists think that white lines at traffic lights are for decoration? Passing a red light at a roundabout can be fatal. Many roundabouts do not have clear visibility, so one driver passing a red light can lead to a pile up and many fatalities.
What’s more, the traffic police or city council see it fit to switch off some traffic lights after rush hour or on weekends, so pedestrians trying to cross are left at the mercy of motorists driving violently. Traffic lights serve an important function: they allow pedestrians to cross a multi-lane road safely, particularly those who cannot run and dodge across to avoid an oncoming car (let’s say children, elderly people, the disabled, pregnant women, people with luggage and so on). Traffic lights also allow coordination of traffic at busy junctions and roundabouts. Traffic lights should not be switched off, even at night. It is a wonder that very many busy avenues in CBD don’t even have traffic lights.
The worst thing is that the traffic police effectively allow motorists to get away with driving through red lights, as if it’s not a crime, yet those motorists are putting the lives of pedestrians and other motorists at risk. Cameras can be installed quite cheaply at traffic lights. The traffic police has money for seminars and the building of police houses (see neighbourhood news) but they don’t have money for cheap surveillance equipment? At the bare minimum, there should be a traffic police officer on foot or on a motorcycle, monitoring drivers’ behaviour. The traffic police seem to have forgotten their role – it’s not just to check that drivers’ cars are roadworthy because even a roadworthy vehicle driven badly can kill. The idle community police sitting around in booths can also be dispatched to monitor traffic, and to record the number plates of offenders.
Nairobians.Com urges people to exercise their citizens’ rights and name and shame rogue drivers passing red lights. Write down their number plates and email us at traffic@nairobians.com.
Whether you are a non-driver or driver, the behaviour of rogue motorists could affect you or someone you love, so don’t allow them to get away with it.
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