The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has warned parents and guardians that they could face legal action if they allow children to drive, as the long end-of-year holiday and festive travel season gets under way.

In a statement on Monday, the authority reminded motorists that the minimum driving age in Kenya is 18 years and that allowing, or failing to prevent, an underage or unlicensed person from driving is an offence under the law.

"Don't let your child become the next statistic. The minimum driving age in Kenya is 18 years," NTSA said.

Keys out of reach

The agency asked parents to keep vehicle keys out of sight and reach of children, even those who already know how to drive, and to keep track of where family vehicles are at all times. It also urged families to hold frank conversations with teenagers about the consequences of underage driving and the toll of road crashes.

The warning comes as millions of learners are at home after schools closed, a period when NTSA says some minors take advantage of easy access to family cars.

What the law says

  • No one below 18 may drive a motor vehicle on a public road.
  • Under the Traffic Act (Cap 403), no driving licence or provisional licence can be issued to anyone under 16, the age at which a person may be licensed to ride a motorcycle.
  • Parents or vehicle owners who let an unlicensed minor drive can be charged; in one past case reported by Kenyans.co.ke, a father whose seven-year-old was found driving was fined Sh20,000 or three months in jail.

A deadly year on the roads

The caution comes in one of the deadliest years on Kenyan roads in recent memory. NTSA figures show 3,995 people were killed in crashes between January 1 and October 4, among them 1,490 pedestrians and 1,061 motorcyclists. Kenya recorded 5,009 road deaths in 2025, up from 4,748 the year before, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

NTSA Director of Road Safety Andrew Kiplagat has in recent weeks pushed for road crashes to be declared a national disaster, noting that more than 270 black spots have been mapped across the country, 199 of them on the Mombasa-Malaba Northern Corridor.

Police and NTSA officers have already announced an intensified countrywide crackdown for the holiday period, targeting speeding, drunk driving, unroadworthy vehicles and overloaded public service vehicles.

Photos: NTSA via Kenyans.co.ke; People Daily. Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.