The Traffic (Amendment) Act 2012 Registration of Motor Vehicles Use & Maintenance Of Motor Vehicles Important New

New Traffic Laws Highlights on key Offences

SPECIAL EDITION NEW TRAFFIC LAWS Special Issue on key changes to the Traffic laws in Kenya
THE TRAFFIC (AMENDMENT) ACT 2012
The enactment of the Traffic (Amendment) Act, 2012, which became effective on 1st December 2012, introduced very drastic and punitive measures relating to road transport in Kenya as highlighted below in summary. REGISTRATION OF MOTOR VEHICLES A) Section 6 - Cancelation of registration of a motor vehicle The new Act amends section 6 by introducing a new subsection 10 and 11 which empowers the Registrar of Motor vehicles to withdraw the registration of a motor vehicle where reasonable grounds are established that the registration was obtained fraudulently or in error. Upon cancellation of the registration, the registered owner will be required to return the logbook and number plate to the Registrar. The effect of this enactment is to address the loopholes that have existed in the registration of motor vehicles, whereby a person had to go to court to obtain an order of cancellation of registration for motor vehicles obtained illegally and will serve to deter future fraudulent registrations. B) Section 9 - Information to be supplied during transfer of motor vehicles In addition to the usual documentation required to facilitate transfer of ownership of a motor vehicle, one shall be required to include the email address and mileage of a motor vehicle. NB: Thankfully, the requirement that the number plates of a motor vehicle must be produced during the transfer of ownership, which was in the proposed Bill, has been deleted from the provisions of the New Act. USE & MAINTENANCE OF MOTOR VEHICLES C) Repeal of Section 16 of the Traffic Act Section 16 which provides for Licensing of motor vehicles was repealed and replaced by adding a new Section to provide that every vehicle more than four years old from the recorded date of manufacture shall be subjected to inspection. D) Section 36 of the Traffic Act The new Act requires that all drivers of public service vehicles undergo a mandatory driving test every three years as a condition for renewal of the driving license. E) Section 105 A of the Traffic Act The section was amended to require a driver of a public service vehicle or a commercial vehicle to undergo a physical fitness test after every three years including an eye and hearing test by a medical officer and the license shall not be renewed unless the certificate has been produced. The Minister of Transport directed that this part will come in to effect on 1st of July, 2012 IMPORTANT NEW TRAFFIC LAWS F) Section 45A - Driving on pavement & walkways The Act was amended to prohibit driving on pavements and pedestrian walkways which will now attract a penalty of imprisonment for a term of three months or a fine of Kshs. 30,000/= for the first offence and imprisonment for a term of six months for a second offence of this nature.

G) Section 47 (1) Reckless Driving The law was amended to prohibit reckless driving o the road which will attract a penalty of a fine not exceeding Kshs. 100,000/=or imprisonment for not more than two years on first conviction or Kshs. 300,000/= or imprisonment for not more than one year and cancelation of the driving license for a period of two years for a second offence H) Section 49 (1) _ Careless driving The law was amended to prohibit careless driving on the road which will attract a penalty of a fine not exceeding Kshs. 100,000/=or imprisonment for not more than one years on first conviction or Kshs. 200,000/= or imprisonment for not more than two years and cancelation of the driving license for a period of one year for a second offence I) Section 105 A Mandatory Physical Fitness tests The section was amended to require a driver of a public service vehicle or a commercial vehicle to undergo a physical fitness test after every three years including an eye and hearing test by a medical officer and the license shall not be renewed unless the certificate has been produced. J) Section 117A - Assignment of Demerits Points The Traffic Act was amended to introduce new provisions whereby a person convicted of a traffic Offence in addition to any penalty shall have demerit points endorsed in the driving License which may lead to disqualification and withdrawal of a Drivers license as stipulated under the new Act

Section 41 was amended to increase the fine for failure to comply with the rules and regulations relating to Driving Licenses from Kshs. 1,000/= and 2,000/= to Kshs 10,000/= and Kshs. 20,000/= respectively Section 43 was amended to increase the fine for failure to comply with the rules and regulations relating to speed limits from Kshs. 2,000/= to Kshs 100,000/= Section 44 was amended to increase the penalties for the offence relating to driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol from Kshs. 10,000/= and imprisonment for a term not exceeding 18 months to Kshs. to Kshs 100,000/= and two years respectively Section 44 was amended to increase the fine for the offence relating to driving a public service vehicle under the influence of alcohol from Kshs. 15,000/= to Kshs 100,000/= Section 52 was amended to enhance the penalties for failure to comply with road signs or police instructions to Kshs. 50,000/= or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months o n first conviction and seventy thousand or imprisonment for a term not exceeding In general the new Act amended all the sections relating to traffic offences stipulated in the Traffic Act by enhancing the amount payable as fine or the term of imprisonment. It is recommended that all staff take time to peruse the Traffic Act which is accessible online by visiting the Kenya Law Reports Website at www.kenyalaw.org by clicking on the Laws of Kenya icon, to accessing the Laws of Kenya Database and then search for Traffic Act to familiarize themselves with the provisions in detail.

IMPORTANT SECTIONS ON PENALTIES The new law has amended the sections stipulating penalties for traffic offences by greatly enhancing them. We have listed a few of these penalties below: Section 14 was amended to increase the fines for offences relating to registration of Motor vehicles from Kshs. 1,000/= and 2,000/= to Kshs 10,000/= and Kshs. 20,000/= respectively. Section 29 was amended to increase the fine for offences relating to failure to comply with the requirements for obtaining the licences for Motor vehicles from Kshs. 1,000/= and 2,000/= to Kshs 10,000/= and Kshs. 20,000/= respectively section 30 was amended to increase the fines for offences relating to failure by a driver of a public service Vehicle to undergo a mandatory test every three years from Kshs.2,000/= and 5,000/= to Kshs 20,000/= and Kshs. 30,000/= for failure to undergo the test and a second similar offence respectively