Politician proposes to electrocute tired drivers to wake them up

Long distance truck driving isn’t easy. Between the risk of accidents and the long hours driving a truck can be far more difficult – and tiring – than most people think.

Drivers often get paid based on how quickly they can deliver their shipments, prompting many drivers to drive much longer hours than they should by whatever means necessary.

Thousands of drivers lose their lives in accidents on highways each year, many of which are caused by drivers falling asleep at the wheel after long hours on the road.

Jolt them awake

In order to remedy this problem, one politician believes the solution is to start administering electric shock to tired truck drivers in order to jolt them awake.

The technology now is so advanced, a driver can be driving and get an electric shock if they look away from the windscreen for more than two seconds.

If a driver is a fluttering their eyes in tiredness or looking away, there are a variety of measures that can alert the driver.

That can be through an electronic jab through the seat that gives a slight buzz or a message and some of our best companies are using that technology and investing in their workforce and safety.

Not surprisingly, truck drivers have not taken kindly to the proposal.

While it might sound like a ridiculous proposition at first, there are actually many devices on the market designed for such a purpose.

Truck accidents in Kenya

In December 2017, many lives were lost in road accidents linked to heavy trucks.

In the worst case, a truck rammed into many vehicles and caused multiple deaths along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway. Dozens of cases have also been reported over the past few months regarding accidents caused by fatigued truck drivers mostly at night.

In a bid to avert such incidences, the government has tried to impose dusk to dawn curfews for truck drivers and Public Service Vehicles.