Every Decem­ber, Kenya turns into one long road home. Fam­i­lies trav­el at night, mata­tus race against time, bus­es over­flow with hope, and dri­vers push lim­its in the name of arrival. Yet Decem­ber is also when our roads betray us most bru­tal­ly. By ear­ly Decem­ber 2025, more than 4,450 peo­ple had already lost their lives on Kenyan roads, sur­pass­ing last year’s total before Christ­mas itself arrived. That means dozens of fam­i­lies will enter the new year not with cel­e­bra­tion, but with silence.

This sea­son feels dif­fer­ent. For the first time in many years, the warn­ing has not come only from NTSA or the police. It came from the Judi­cia­ry. Chief Jus­tice Martha Koome stepped for­ward, lead­ing a mul­ti agency response through the Nation­al Coun­cil on the Admin­is­tra­tion of Jus­tice. Mobile courts, instant pro­cess­ing of traf­fic cas­es, coor­di­nat­ed enforce­ment, and firm appli­ca­tion of traf­fic penal­ties sig­nal that the coun­try is final­ly treat­ing road deaths as a jus­tice issue, not an incon­ve­nience. Sim­ple fines that can be paid legal­ly and imme­di­ate­ly are qui­et­ly dis­man­tling bribery at the road­side and restor­ing the rule of law.

Cab­i­net has rein­forced this shift by approv­ing a new smart dri­ving licence sys­tem that links dri­vers direct­ly to their behav­iour. Offences will now accu­mu­late con­se­quences. Licences can be sus­pend­ed or with­drawn. For the first time, reck­less­ness will fol­low a dri­ver beyond the road­block. These reforms arrive late, after thou­sands of lives have been lost, but they are wel­come. Yet laws alone do not save lives. Peo­ple do.

To under­stand what must change, we must look at the safest trans­port sys­tem human­i­ty has ever built. Avi­a­tion. Planes do not avoid crash­es because pilots are per­fect. They avoid them because safe­ty is cul­tur­al, lay­ered, and unfor­giv­ing of short­cuts. Before every flight, pilots con­duct hon­est self assess­ments. Are they ill, fatigued, stressed, emo­tion­al­ly unsta­ble, or impaired in any way. If the answer is yes, they step aside. Not out of fear, but respon­si­bil­i­ty. Col­leagues are empow­ered to ques­tion each oth­er. Pas­sen­gers trust the sys­tem because every­one inside it under­stands that silence kills.

Kenya must now divide respon­si­bil­i­ty the same way, into three unavoid­able roles.

First is the dri­ver. Every dri­ver car­ry­ing human beings must begin each jour­ney with a self check as seri­ous as a pilot’s. If you are tired, angry, sick, intox­i­cat­ed, dis­tract­ed, or emo­tion­al­ly unsta­ble, you have no moral right to dri­ve. Delay­ing a trip is painful. Bury­ing a loved one is irreversible.

Sec­ond is the pas­sen­ger. In avi­a­tion, no one boards qui­et­ly if some­thing feels wrong. On Kenyan roads, silence has become dead­ly. Pas­sen­gers must refuse speed, demand seat belts, insist on rest, and reject drunk or reck­less dri­vers. Report­ing dan­ger­ous dri­ving or cor­rup­tion is not betray­al. It is pro­tec­tion. Using emer­gency lines to report dan­ger may feel uncom­fort­able, but dis­com­fort is cheap­er than a coffin.

Third is the vehi­cle own­er. Own­ing a vehi­cle is not mere­ly an income strat­e­gy. It is a pub­lic trust. Prop­er main­te­nance, work­ing brakes, tyres, seat belts, and humane dri­ver sched­ules are not expens­es. They are the cost of dig­ni­ty. Prof­it built on risk is blood money.

Now to the read­ers of this col­umn. You may feel few com­pared to the mil­lions trav­el­ling this sea­son. But dis­ci­plined minori­ties have always changed Kenya, just as they do dur­ing elec­tions. If you are read­ing this, con­sid­er your­self appoint­ed. A Green Ambas­sador for life.

Your assign­ment is urgent and sim­ple. Prac­tise a three action code in every jour­ney. Edu­cate by nam­ing one safe­ty rule before depar­ture. Report dan­ger or cor­rup­tion imme­di­ate­ly through offi­cial chan­nels. Expose reck­less­ness by refus­ing to par­tic­i­pate, even if it delays you.

This is not the sea­son for polite­ness. It is the sea­son for courage.

A nation that can­not pro­tect its trav­ellers can­not claim to love its peo­ple. Let insti­tu­tions enforce the law. Let cit­i­zens enforce the cul­ture. Arrive alive, then celebrate.

Think green, act green.