Ignorance is Bliss; Death doesn't Spare Ignorance

Boda Boda is a giant economic industry that has directly employed more than 1.6 million Kenyans with only 3 million being individuals beyond 35 years, according to the Bodaboda Safety Association of Kenya (BAK) estimates. Young people being the majority in this sector, their safety is very paramount and has to be emphasized by every possible means owing to the impact they have on the economy and the employment opportunities it has provided to the youths.

Most of us are now used to a habit by motorcycle riders where they or the passenger they carry stretch their arms with a pointing finger wagging to indicate that they are taking a turn instead of using an indicator.

A Boda Boda ferrying pupils |Photo Courtesy, Daily Monitor.

This comes at the time when the latest data from the National Transport and Safety Authority (2025) on motorcycle-related road fatalities between the month of January–March reveals that 301 motorcyclists have lost their lives in road accidents, as reported by The Kenya Times. This is just in the first quarter of the year 2025. The statistics for the pedestrian fatalities, although the report indicates a negative deviation, is still high at 420.

The NTSA attributes the increase in motorcycle-related fatalities to factors that I intend not to mention here. However, my concern is on the adamant unlawful and creativity that these men on the two wheels have come up with on the Kenyan roads.

Apart from their creative and unique indications during turns and diversions, they have devised other survival mechanics on the motorcycles they are operating on the road, one being a blinding light that supplements the headlamp or has entirely replaced it and an astounding horn which has been modified and is mind-boggling when sounded.

These modifications even if they are not pointed out to have contributed to the fatality rate of the motorcycle riders, at least, to some extent it has contributed to the loss of a life or two out of the 420 pedestrians that the report indicates to have lost their lives on Kenyan roads in the first quarter of the new year.

The National Transport and Safety Authority, NTSA has established comprehensive regulations to guide motorcycle riders and road users. These regulations, as outlined in the NTSA (Operation of Motorcycle) regulations, No. 19 of 2015 and the traffic rules under the Traffic Act, give measures critical towards ensuring the safety of the rider and the well-being of others on the road.

The regulations also prohibit any structural modifications that could affect the safe operation of the motorcycle. In addition, it provides for specifications of headlights, rear lights, turn indicators and additional lighting regulations. These structural modifications include but are not limited to the modifications that may increase the noise beyond the manufacturer's specifications – some users modify exhaust pipes causing noise pollution and a horn which sounds like that of a trailer.

Unfortunately, compliance with these measures, which are the broader strategies of the NTSA to mitigate the fatality rate on Kenyan roads, is at stake. Motorists, motorcyclists and pedestrians flout these regulations at every moment they are on the road. For instance, motorcyclists instead of using indicators to show turns, alternatively use their fingers as an indicator.

Going through the NTSA (Operation of Motorcycle) regulations, 2015, it is evident that more than 90 per cent of these regulations are flouted by all road users. Especially for motorcycle riders, the only regulation sometimes some of them comply with may be taking a lane on the road, overtaking by the right side and leaving their motorcycle the way they purchased it, every other thing they flout.

This is a clear indication that these riders are inadequately trained for these road safety measures, and therefore, the NTSA should organize programs for training and advocacy for compliance rather than taking the punitive approach, yet the fatality rate keeps rising each and every other day. The police officers should also do their jobs other than that of tax collection.