T.S.S, Rengcom among suspended saccos by NTSA.

The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has suspended the licences belonging to Indimanje Sacco, Tahir Sheikh Said (TSS) Transporters Limited and Rengcom Communications Ltd over failure to follow provisions of the licences awarded to them.

This is after NTSA received reports of fatal road traffic crashes caused by vehicles belonging to the  PSV Saccos and Companies on various dates, and suspended indefinitely the Operators licence belonging to Indimanje Sacco, Tahir Sheikh Said (TSS) Transporters Limited Night Travel License, and Rengcom Communications Ltd Night Travel License.

NTSA says the suspension will only be lifted after the operators show evidence that they have fully complied with the licensing requirements as provided in Gazette Notice number 23 of 2014.

Members of the public have been advised not to board vehicles belonging to these operators until the suspensions are lifted.

“We wish to take this opportunity to remind all road users to ensure that they exercise caution and observe safety laws as they transport passengers, particularly during this Easter period. We have deployed adequate officers who will be monitoring compliance with safety laws and help in apprehending traffic offenders,” read the statement by the NTSA.

In December 2015,  the NTSA revoked licenses of 34 drivers of Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) for flouting traffic rules.

NTSA cancelled the licences for the 34 after they failed to comply with rules set for night travel, driving while drunk, and speeding.

NTSA  also halted operations of 26 vehicles from various Saccos for failing to have speed governors and for not having night travel licenses.
                                         Source: Citizen Digital

NTSA to complete migration from analog to digital in April

Motorists will be able to apply for registration documents pertaining to their cars including number plates, log books and vehicle transfer by mid-April

Kenyans are set to handle their vehicle registration matters online following a decision by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to transfer their services to the internet by mid-April, 2016.

Motor vehicle registration and transfer will now be instant.

Applying for a log book will now take 10 minutes from the previous process of waiting between one and six months for application documents to be processed. Getting a duplicate of the same will also take a day from the current one month wait.

Users will also get to decide where they want to pick up their log books between Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.

According to NTSA director Fernando Wangila, car buyers will have an opportunity to choose their own number plates at a premium fee or wait for the Authority to assign them one.

Applying for a personalized number plate in the country goes for KSh 1 million while opting to go for one assigned by the NTSA and Kenya Revenue Authority will cost you Ksh 2 700.

A personalized number plate must contain a maximum of seven letters in caps and must be embossed in blue with a white background. Any offensive symbols or words are prohibited.

The Authority, according to the Daily Nation, said that for one to have access to these services, they would be required to access a portal that will be publicized in the coming weeks, create a profile and log in with their PINs.

All one would have to do is enter the chasis number of their vehicle so that they can use the NTSA services on the portal.

By embracing online activities, the NTSA and KRA will have done away with the hours long queuing Kenyans have been subjected to in order to renew licenses and register their cars in people jammed halls.

This would also provide a data base that would capture details of motorists in case criminal activities are carried out using their vehicles or if their property is stolen for purposes of prosecution

Source..TUKO and Daily Nation news

My thoughts on the perfect driver's car.

I fear that the best examples of automotive perfection are in the past. Only are good new driver’s cars increasingly few and far in between. Cars and the automotive culture is a big deal to me, not only because it can play a vital role in larger society, but because I think the time for truly great driver’s cars has passed. Even if I am a pea-brained millennial that has no concept of why anyone would consciously use Whatsapp other than sending pictures of their genitals to strangers. I will write about cars that allow their drivers the greatest amount of feedback and communication with the least amount of compromise to other aspects of the car. Everyone has to come into terms that the proverbial driving experience is changing at a rapid pace.

Cars are becoming safer to drive in, they are feature-rich and efficient and engines have never had more output, whether it is an econobox Hyundai Sonata churning out a torque curve that would literally twist the swiss-cheese frame of a Mk I Golf GTI, or a mad Dodge Charger Hellcat with its ticket-to-the-pearly-gates 707 horses from a supercharged V8. This power is fed through a series of computers that analyze what the body of the car is doing, how far the suspension is compressed or stretched, the gear the transmission is in among others.

However, as with anything in the known human kingdom, there’s no such a thing as a free lunch, no matter what. Over the past few decades, automobiles have become, on average, more than 200 kilograms heavier than they were in the late ‘80s. Car prices have also sky-rocketed over the years, fueled by the added cost of development and implementation of the systems that serves as layers in between the driver and an unfiltered driving experience.

A fully loaded 1983 Volkswagen Golf/Rabbit GTI cost around 830,000 Kenyan Shillings in the US brand new, which translates to over 1,930,000 Kenyan Shillings in today’s money. Today, a 2015 Golf GTI with all options on-board would cost around 3,143,400 Kenyan Shillings.

The BMW E30 3 Series is considered by many car enthusiasts to be one of the best driver’s cars ever made. Its light chassis, taut suspension, an engine that loves revving very high and good practicality made this car an analog masterpiece. The handling and the feeling of barebones on this car was, and still is, the yardstick to which other cars can aspire to be. This car was all about the driving experience and nothing else; an embodiment of the “Ultimate Driving Machine” slogan BMW has been slinging.

The E30 had emissions and safety restrictions of its own to deal with. Those restrictions don’t seem as persuasive as they are now, and it is my concern that cars, even boutique, will never employ that amount of simplicity ever again. I can utterly lament that we will never have anything approaching the rawness of a BMW E39 M5 again. I really love this Bavarian.

I miss the days when high-end sports car manufacturers used hydraulic power steering systems instead of electric ones for “weight savings”. Petrolheads, or are we gear heads, are a subset of a subset of a population; a forgettable niche in the grand scheme of things. Cars like the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI Makinen, the 1993 Porsche 911 993(the most complete car on earth as Top Gear puts it in), the 1999 BMW 320d which was justifiable with head and heart, the 1996 Porsche Boxster which was perfect in the driving position, perfect engine, perfect brakes, a perfect gearbox and a perfect handling, it was inarguably perfect in everything of concern to a driver. Can a 2005 Bugatti Veyron fit in this category?

New traffic rules in Nairobi to counter traffic jams.

Motorists will be fined up to Sh100,000 if they flout rules on the newly introduced yellow boxes at junctions to ease traffic in the CBD.

City Hall has set a fine of Sh100,000 for driving without due care and attention and Sh50,000 for obstruction.

“Section 49 of the traffic rules states that those who drive without due care and attention be fined Sh100,000 and Sh50,000 for obstruction for first-time offenders,” said the county’s Director of Public Communications, Beryl Okundi.

City Hall drew yellow boxes in all intersections that are notoriously congested such as the intersections along Kenyatta Avenue, Mama Ngina Street, Wabera Street, City Hall Way and most areas where there are X junctions (Crossed junctions).

They are indicated by criss-cross yellow lines painted on the road and are usually found at the junction of two or more roads and at some roundabouts.

Motorists are only allowed to enter a yellow box junction when the exit is clear and there is enough space on the other side of the junction for a vehicle to clear the box completely without stopping.

One can stop at a yellow box junction when turning right and is prevented from turning by oncoming traffic, or by other vehicles waiting to turn right.

They are advised not to simply follow the vehicle in front as it may stop and prevent exit and also not to let other drivers pressure them to enter the box when a clear exit is not available.

                                     Source: Business Daily