On the way to work earlier this week I witnessed an accident involving two vehicles. It was quite evident who was to blame for the accident but the immediate reaction of both parties was to get into a shouting match.

As the saying goes, nothing will add heat to an argument like rubbing car fenders together. Observing the two motorists going at each other, I could not help but recall the quip that one way to reduce motor accidents is to build cars in such a way that they cannot run any faster than the average person thinks.

With all the talk of infrastructure development comes the need to improve and to some degree overhaul our transport systems. Systems are meant to define the way we do things.

For instance, it can be said that our legal system is different from that used in the United States. In the same breath, a company's enterprise resource system (ERP) system can be similar to that of its competitor.

Systems can be defined as efficient due to their ability to consistently deliver expected results. On the other hand, systems can also be inefficient and ineffective and unable to deliver standard results on a consistent basis.

Like in any business model, systems are operated and controlled by people. The assumption of an efficient system is that the people who design, develop and operate the system are not only competent and knowledgeable, but also responsible enough to continually test the system to ensure its robustness and value to its users.

One of the most efficient systems that most of us may have heard about is the McDonalds restaurants system which is highly efficient and profitable. Many restaurateurs and entrepreneurs have tried to operate multiple outlet franchises but failed due to the inability to design and develop robust business systems.

Assuming that our transport system in Kenya can be viewed as a business model, we are obviously far below standards found in other countries. Of course the first reaction would be to compare the roads, railways, airways, boat ways, and so on, of other countries and conclude that they are in a much better and modernised state than our own.

However, every system has end users and their utilisation of the system best epitomises its efficiency and relevance. It is quite intriguing to note that with all the talk of by-passes across Nairobi, no one has necessarily focused on measuring the ability of drivers to utilise these intended modern highway systems.

It is said that highway accidents will diminish when brain power matches horsepower. This somewhat explicit statement provides the premise and assumption that the development of our road system and equipment is probably moving much faster than our ability to accommodate any further modernisation.

This is analogous to introducing a new accounting system that employees in finance are unable to use. Worse yet, their inability to use the system will ostensibly result in questionable sets of published accounts and other unfavourable outcomes.

As our roads become wider and smoother, Kenyan drivers have managed to demonstrate some ingenuity in the use of the road system rarely seen in other parts of the world. The assumption that improving roads has a direct correlation with reduction in incidence of accidents is probably true, however most of us probably need to see factual statistics to verify this point.

With traffic lights mushrooming all over the city, you would expect traffic flow to be better and drivers embracing discipline and compliance. Unfortunately, skeptics will be quick to note that when a man praises discipline, nine times out of ten this means he is prepared to administer it rather than submit to it.

With all this in context, the premise that accountants need to be trained to understand and utilise a new accounting system, needs to be extended to Kenyan drivers who most probably all need to retrained to accommodate an evolving transport system. Many are driving their vehicles as if they are rehearsing for an accident.

The old narrow roads where two cars could barely pass without colliding will happily be replaced by splendid wide highways on which six to eight cars can collide at the same time. It takes a thousand nuts to hold an automobile together, but just one to spread it all over the landscape.