Kenya NTSA Category B common mistakes
Kenya NTSA Category B · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Rolling through a STOP sign - slowing to a crawl, checking once, and continuing without the wheels ever fully stopping at the stop line.
Candidates rehearse the sign as if it were a Give Way, or they stop once behind the line, creep forward for a better view and then pull out without a second look. Test-day pressure rewards 'keeping moving' and examiners mark the missing full stop instantly.
What to do instead
Treat the stop line as a wall: brake to a complete standstill with the wheels stationary, hold the handbrake or footbrake, scan left-right-left, and only then select first gear and move. Practise at a quiet junction until a full stop becomes automatic, not a judgement call.
Crossing or straddling a continuous white centre line to overtake, or stopping on a pedestrian crossing / inside a yellow box junction.
In real Kenyan traffic the continuous line is routinely ignored, so learners copy what they see on the road rather than the Highway Code, and they misjudge how much road the overtake needs before the line begins.
What to do instead
Learn the rule as a prohibition, not a guideline: a continuous line is a solid wall you may not cross in either direction, and crossings and box junctions must be kept clear. Before overtaking, confirm you can complete the move and return to the left before the broken line becomes continuous, with clear sight lines and no junction, crest or bend.
Moving off, changing lanes or pulling out to overtake without a visible head check over the relevant shoulder.
Many candidates were taught mirror-only driving, or drive cars whose mirrors are set to show the rear door rather than the blind spot. The examiner cannot see what your eyes see - only head movement - so a correct decision with no visible check still scores as a fault.
What to do instead
Set mirrors before the test so a sliver of your own car is visible, then use a fixed routine every time: mirrors, signal, mirror, shoulder glance, manoeuvre. Make the head turn deliberate and slow enough to be seen, and cancel the indicator after the move.
Stalling or rolling back on a hill start and losing control of the clutch during slow manoeuvres.
Lessons were taken on flat ground with a forgiving diesel, the biting point is taken too high, and the handbrake is released before the clutch bites. Nerves make the left foot lift faster than intended.
What to do instead
Use the handbrake start as standard: clutch to the biting point until the bonnet lifts slightly and revs dip, hold it there, then release the handbrake smoothly while adding a little accelerator. For reversing and parking, control speed with the clutch alone and keep the right foot covering the brake.
Entering a roundabout in the wrong lane or failing to give way to traffic already circulating and approaching from the right.
Candidates treat the roundabout as a first-come-first-served junction, drift across lanes mid-circle, and forget to signal left for the exit - often because they learned on a single-lane roundabout and are now facing a multi-lane one.
What to do instead
Read the advance direction signs and get into the correct lane early. Give way to traffic on the roundabout coming from your right, enter only when the gap is genuinely safe, keep your lane through the circle, signal left after passing the exit before yours, and cancel the indicator on exit.
Skipping the pre-drive inspection and being unable to say what a warning light on the dashboard means.
The theory was memorised as a list to recite, not as a routine to perform on a real vehicle, and many candidates have never opened the bonnet of the car they are being tested in.
What to do instead
Run a recorded daily check before every drive: fuel, oil, water/coolant, brake and clutch fluid, battery and belts, electrics and lights, rubber and tyres, and yourself (seat, mirrors, belt). Walk the car for tyre condition, tread and damage, and be able to point to the oil pressure, battery, brake and coolant temperature warnings and say what to do when each stays on.
Keeping a fixed two-second following gap in rain, at night or when being tailgated, because 'two seconds' was memorised as the answer.
The rule is learned as a single number rather than as a minimum that scales with conditions. Candidates also fixate on the car directly ahead instead of the traffic further up the road.
What to do instead
Use the two-second gap as a dry-weather floor and at least double it in rain, at night or on loose surfaces; add a second when the vehicle behind is too close so you can brake gently. Pick a roadside marker, count 'one thousand and one, one thousand and two' from when the car ahead passes it, and look through and past the vehicle in front to the traffic two or three cars up.
Reacting late to pedestrians, matatus and boda bodas because the candidate is watching only the car immediately ahead instead of anticipating the stop.
Hazard perception is a skill that needs practice, and in heavy traffic attention is pulled to the nearest bumper. Candidates also underestimate how quickly a matatu will stop for a passenger or a pedestrian will step off the kerb near a market or bus stop.
What to do instead
Practise commentary driving: say aloud what you see, what might happen and what you will do. Scan roughly 12 seconds ahead, look for brake lights two or three vehicles up, and cover the brake near bus stops, schools, markets, junctions and parked vehicles with people around them. Assume the worst outcome and leave an escape route.
Handling a casualty wrongly - dragging an unconscious crash victim out of the vehicle, removing a motorcyclist's helmet, or giving an injured person water.
Film and roadside habit teach 'get them out fast', and panic makes people do something rather than nothing. The risk of worsening a spinal injury or causing choking is not understood.
What to do instead
Work through DRABC: danger, response, airway, breathing, circulation. Do not move a casualty unless there is immediate danger such as fire or oncoming traffic; leave a helmet on; if breathing but unresponsive, place them in the recovery position; never give food or drink. Call emergency services early, keep the casualty warm, and control visible bleeding with direct pressure.
Attacking a vehicle fire with water, or flinging the bonnet fully open to see what is burning.
Water feels like the obvious response, and opening the bonnet fully floods the fire with oxygen and exposes the person to a flash. Candidates also do not know which extinguisher suits fuel and electrical fires.
What to do instead
Stop the engine, get everyone out and well back, and call for help. Open the bonnet only a crack and discharge a dry powder or CO2 extinguisher through the gap, aimed at the base of the flames, standing upwind with an escape route behind you. Never use water on fuel or electrical fires, and abandon a fire that is spreading rather than fighting it.
Assuming what the insurance covers - driving on third-party-only cover and believing the vehicle's own damage is insured, or not checking the certificate's class, dates and the licence class required for the vehicle being driven.
The certificate is never read, only the sticker is checked, and 'I have insurance' is treated as a single status rather than a set of named classes with expiry dates and conditions.
What to do instead
Read the certificate and confirm it is third party only, third party fire and theft, or comprehensive; check the policy is in force for the exact date and vehicle, and that your licence class covers the vehicle. Know that driving without valid third-party cover, without a licence, or outside your licence class are offences carrying fines and possible disqualification, not just a paperwork slip.