President Uhuru Kenyatta has signed the Traffic Amendment Bill 2017 in a move to safeguard safety for children in school buses and near schools.
The President signed the Bill into law on Friday.
This is comes days after a preparatory pupil from St Augustine school in Mombasa was crushed to death by the institution’s school bus he was in.
The Kindergarten pupil, 6, fell through a gaping hole on the floor of the bus that had been covered with a carpet and he was crushed by the bus’ back wheels.
National Transport Safety Authority (NTSA), in a statement said the school’s administration will be charged as they knowingly concealed the gaping hole on the floor of the bus which in turn led to the death of the boy.
The new law prescribes that all vehicles being used to transport school going children must meet the threshold set by government.
This includes a speed limit of not more than 50km/h when it approaches a school, a motor vehicle designated to transport children to or from school, or for any non-school related activity, must be fitted with safety belts designed to be used by children.
In June, MPs proposed that all school buses must be painted yellow and the school’s name boldly written on the side.
In addition, the school buses will not operate from 10pm to 5am.
The Bill was sponsored by Laisamis MP Joseph Lekuton.
Other vehicles that transport children and are not school buses have been exempted from the new rules.
They are however required to adhere to basic traffic rules.
Anyone found to be in violation on the new law will be a liable to a fine of upto sh30, 000 or jail term of upto 2 month or both.
“A person who being the registered owner or driver of a vehicle used for transporting children, who authorises or permits the use of a vehicle used for transporting children or is negligent to prevent contravention with this Act commits an offence and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding thirty thousand shillings or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two months, or to both,” reads the new law.