Accident Alert: Thika road Again

[Capitan]

@Nyamgondho

Hio thika road, even if you do everything right, it takes a guy who is chatting on the phone while cruising at 110km/hr to take you down.

Poor road design. in serious countries, highways have well spaced places off the road, where you may park in the event of an emergency. E.g on the Addis - Djibouti expressway, in the steep descents, they have even created diversions with elevated sections filled with sand for stalling vehicles (mostly heavy trucks)in case the brakes fail.

[Idias]

hzi new reg vehicles ndio zinaleta ajali nyingi sana barabarani mbona. theeres a link to it. watu wana damu moto sana na 8year old mtumba .excitement sana .

[ChifuMbitika]

Nasikia wachinku walifanya ibada ya ushetani walipokuwa wanajenga hii road. Tuombe Mungu sana tukemee hizo maroho!

[Sakmadic]

@Nyamgondho

I once had a puncture hapo thika road.

First thing- nikaweka life saver (car warning triangle) like 30 meters from my car. Hata kabla nirudi kwa gari lifesaver ilikuwa imepeperushwa mpaka the next lane na upepo za magari. So nikatafuta mawe (Goodluck finding stones on thika road!!) ndio niweke structural stability. Bado ikapeperushwa. Ilibidi nimeweka mawe kama tano. ndio lifesaver iwe stable.

The language wakenya wanaelewa ni matawi…eveerybody respects matawi ya green kwa barabara. Problem ni on thika road you need to have a tout wa kukutafutia matawi 5kms away.

Second. The punctured tire was on the left side, so haga iko kwa njia ukibadilisha tire… upepo ya magari inakupiga hadi inaingia kwa makei. Inabidi ukae ukiangalia kama life saver bado Iko ama imepitiwa nayo coz you’ll be next. Btw hata hio life saver ikiwa kuna jamaa anadrive dangerously close ndio akuweke baridi.

Third. Kwa sababu ilikuwa immediately after Githurai before ufike kahawa. Some boda boda guys had already come around kuona kama nitawa-wachia kakitu. Saa hio boot umefungua, dirisha ya mbele iko lowered na watu ni kama watano hivi - shiny eye zinakaa zikiangalia ndani ya gari. Zinakaa zikiuliza - maximum speed ya hii gari ni ngapi?? Finally nikaona niwawache wabadilishe tire halafu mimi nichunge valuables.

By the time I was done my heart rate ilikuwa 115 BpM.

The next time I had a puncture hapo on the same road niliendesha on rims hadi nikaingia service lane kwa stage. Then later, I did the wise thing, downgraded from low profile tires, swapped the rims to smaller ones na nikaweka tire nono kabisa + tire sealant fluid. Haven’t had a puncture since.

Hio thika road, even if you do everything right, it takes a guy who is chatting on the phone while cruising at 110km/hr to take you down.

A puncture is not an emergency compared to your life. Drive slowly with the puncture hadi ufike to an exit or a safe place off the road to park. Hii ufala ya ku repair puncture on the road ni upus. Harubu rim but save ur life.

[Teddy_time]

@Sakmadic

A puncture is not an emergency compared to your life. Drive slowly with the puncture hadi ufike to an exit or a safe place off the road to park. Hii ufala ya ku repair puncture on the road ni upus. Harubu rim but save ur life.

True, This idea of having a puncture and saying you must stop and fix it there and then is rubbish. Peleka gari na hio puncture to a reasonable place, If you drive sedately, you will save the rim and may even save the tyre.

[Nyamgondho]

@Sakmadic

A puncture is not an emergency compared to your life. Drive slowly with the puncture hadi ufike to an exit or a safe place off the road to park. Hii ufala ya ku repair puncture on the road ni upus. Harubu rim but save ur life.

@Teddy_time

True, This idea of having a puncture and saying you must stop and fix it there and then is rubbish. Peleka gari na hio puncture to a reasonable place, If you drive sedately, you will save the rim and may even save the tyre.

Wueh, Kwani nyinyi huishi wapi?! This wisdom still won’t save you. Have you ever driven at 40-50 Kph on Thika road? That always increases your chances of getting rear-ended by approximately 70%. There is a family of four that lost their lives just like that. A lorry moving at 100km/hr rear-ended them na ikawamaliza.

To date, there are fewer scary things than driving on thika road at 40-50 Kph. Magari zina- emergency brake behind you. Zingine zinahoot. One small miscalculation from a person who can’t see your hazard lights and suddenly your life is on the line.

Kwani nyinyi hamnaga magari?? Kwanza on a rainy night sioni uki-drive to a safe place…safely!. Kukinyesha na hio njia ianze kuflood, then upate puncture na unaendesha at a snail’s pace @30kph. Then ujue Darwin’s law will sort out the rest.

The best solution is actually what @Capitan posted hapo juu. Where do you guys get confidence to drive at 40kph on Thika road? Ama it’s just a case of burying your head in the sand na kusema liwe-liwalo??

Ukipata puncture hapo muthaiga, the next exit point iko huko karibu na KCA… hapo ukidrive at 40, kuna watu wata emergency-brake if you have to get to an exit point safely.