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{
    "id": 394757,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/394757/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 147,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wamatangi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 646,
        "legal_name": "Paul Kimani Wamatangi",
        "slug": "paul-kimani-wamatangi"
    },
    "content": "informative Motions to this House, especially today. I rise to support this Motion and as I support, I want to begin by recalling that the last time this nation faced a calamity of a big magnitude – that is when we had the fire at the airport – I happened to be on Mombasa Road. You just cannot believe what you see in the morning. On that day, the traffic happened to have been heavy heading towards the airport, with people going to work. The emergency vehicles were all coming from Nairobi; that is the fire fighters, heading towards the airport. What I witnessed on the road to the airport is unbelievable; traffic was full all the way from the Nyayo Stadium Roundabout up to the next roundabout, and these emergency vehicles had their sirens blaring. This information was all over and people knew what was happening. In support of what my colleague was saying here, what is unbelievable is the attitude of our people and our drivers; that even at that time, you will find somebody comfortably driving at his own speed on the lane that he took when he started, and he chooses to ignore the sirens that are blaring behind them. He drives casually until the emergency vehicles themselves have to find a way of going over the curbs and pavements to bypass him. Madam Temporary Speaker, for us to address this problem, beginning by what has been proposed by my colleagues here, by providing for a special lanes for these emergency vehicles, I believe that there are specific measures that we must take as a people to make this useful. I want to allude to the fact that the first step we must take is educating our people. The first group that we need to educate is our policemen. If, for example, you are driving from the airport on Mombasa Road heading to Nairobi, you will be surprised that, many times, you can find four trucks on different lanes all blocking the road, and the jam that ensues behind all those trucks will slow down everybody else; be it emergency vehicles or small vehicles, which are faster. When that happens, the policemen themselves just stand by the side; what they will be looking for is probably other small misdemeanors of the drivers, probably a tire is worn out – I am not saying that they are small – but they will be completely ignorant of the fact that when a road is being constructed, especially a highway, there are specific designated lanes. There are fast lanes and there are slow lanes; heavy vehicles are supposed to drive on the extreme left and others on the right. But this is completely ignored even in the full glare of the police. When our traffic policemen are at the roundabouts holding and allowing traffic to pass as they have arranged, you will notice that sometimes a dignitary could be passing with police escort, and they will come with their sirens blaring. The traffic policeman will run to the roundabout and stop all traffic in order to make way for the dignitary to pass. Just wait a second when you are there and an ambulance comes; the traffic policeman will be standing where he was, the ambulance will have its siren blaring and he will not even move. That ambulance driver has to find his way, use his ideas and skills until he meanders through the traffic. Our traffic policemen must be educated about traffic rules; they must understand and learn the highway code just as much as the drivers do themselves so that they can be useful in ensuring that even as we pass this Motion, then this extra lane that we are seeking to create to ease the flow and movement of The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}