Digital driving licence which can also be used as Identity card is finally here

Kenya’s long awaited digital driving license embedded with a microchip and which one can also use as an Identity card is finally here.

Pictures seen by Business Insider shows the digital driving license braded with a Kenyan flag on far right top, driver’s details below and a microchip on the side.

According to NTSA Director of Road Safety Njeri Waithaka, the electronic chip will enabled a driving license to store real time key details of a driver.

“The smart driving license is going to allow a driver’s profile to be created for every license holder. This profile is critical in terms of profiling driver behavior and act as a one stop where this drivers profile is listed when the driver gets the license, manner of driving, and traffic offense convictions they have had” He told a local daily.

The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) in March signed a Sh2.1 billion contract with the National Bank of Kenya for the manufacture and formulation of the smart licenses aimed at revolutionizing enforcement of traffic laws.

Kenya is one of the deadliest roads in the world thanks to drivers simply ignoring traffic rules and thousands of Kenyans die every year to avoidable accudents.

The Transport Authority announced in early October plans to roll out the digital driving licences starting with first time drivers.

NTSA said more than 100,000 of the smart cards have been made in readiness for distribution to motorists.

The smart licences have instant fines capability software installed, but it will remain inactive until the court case is heard and determined.

The licenses will use the points system, widely used in the West to tame drivers, and will see each motorist’s card loaded with 20 points that are to be deducted progressively at a rate proportional to the offence committed.

Misdemeanours like overlapping will see drivers lose a single point from their accounts over and above getting fined While Serious offences like drunk driving and speeding will result in deductions of more than 10 points, fines and a raft of other disciplinary measures that could see one lose their licence for life.

A driver will have a week or so to recover this “lost” point if he or she doesn’t commit other offences.

The NTSA will also share the information on rogue drivers with insurance firms, a move that could see such drivers’ premiums rise as they will be deemed to be risky clients.