Over the past months, a number of accidents involving boda boda riders have been caught on camera.
In all the incidences, the boda boda riders are seen travelling with their pillion passengers before crashing into vehicles with the common factor being overtaking on the wrong side of the road.
An accident that occured in Thika town earlier in the month, showed a boda boda rider overtaking using the left side as a vehicle was trying to exit the road.
Oblivious of the incoming car, they collided with the boda boda rider was flung into a nearby ditch together with his passenger.
In another incident that occured on July 25 along Ngong Road, a boda boda rider with a passenger was overtaking using the inner lane when a lorry that was exiting hit it. The rider and his passengers sustained minor injuries in that crash.
In the third crash that happened in Industrial Area, Nairobi, a vehicle had been given way by oncoming traffic to exit the road. As the driver proceeded, a boda boda rider on the left side, crashed into the vehicle and was flung onto the bonnet of the vehicle.
A boda boda rider who spoke to Kenyans.co.ke explained that people opt for boda bodas in busy towns so as to avoid traffic, as the two-wheel vehicles can maneuver through tight spaces.
"The accidents rarely occur, but when they do they are unfortunate. The driver of the vehicle should also not be blameless in some of these accidents as it could be their fault when they don't signal well," he noted.
According to traffic laws, no overtaking should be done from the left side and the outer part of the road is not a designated lane to use.
According to statistics by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) 262 motorcyclists were reported to have died on the road since the year began as of April 23.
The number is slightly high compared to 2019 whereby 204 motorcyclists lost their lives by the same date.
Kenya Boda Boda Safety Association chairman Kevin Mubadi on his part stated that the organisation was rolling out a national sensitization program on road safety practices by the riders.
He explained that the program would be conducted in partnership with the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) and the Kenya Police.
Mubadi added that they had launched a national database platform where all boda boda riders would be registered that would be used to trace offenders.
"In the database, we will have all the records of all boda bodas, so that they can be tracked when they are flouting traffic rules. We will not use it to punish them, rather to educate them on what is acceptable on the road," he told this writer over the phone.
He further advised passengers to wear helmets and reflective vests when they board the boda bodas for their safety.
