The National Road Safety Authority has announced that beginning 2026, vehicle owners will be required to remove broken-down vehicles from intercity roads and highways within 30 minutes to one hour.

The directive follows concerns raised by road users over the dangers posed by parked or broken-down vehicles and trucks, which have been identified as a major cause of road crashes.

Speaking in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday, December 30, the Executive Director of the Authority, Abraham Amaliba, explained that the recently passed Road Traffic Amendment Bill contains provisions mandating vehicle owners to tow broken-down vehicles off the road within a specified time frame or face legal consequences.

“The stationary vehicles are also a cause of accidents, and the new law has also provided that coming next year, every vehicle owner must subscribe to a towing company, which means that once your car breaks down, you have 30 minutes, if it is in the city centre, to call a towing company. You are not bound to subscribe to one particular towing company.

“Insurance companies can also provide that same service. It’s allowed. If it’s on the highways you have one hour, within which to call your towing company. Failure to do this, then the National Road Safety Authority will come and remove the stationary vehicle and then surcharge you for the removal of the vehicle. These are the exciting things that are going to be in the L.I. So, within 30 minutes, you must call the subscriber and they must respond,” he stressed.