Not too long ago, the transport industry changed and took a new shape with the ‘new kid on the block’, motorcycles popularly known as bodaboda.
This mode of transport was embraced due to its fast growth and flexibility to manoeuvre in some topography where vehicles could not get their way through.
The bodaboda was also time-saving and convenient and as such has managed to remain popular among people in towns and rural areas. Bodaboda operators have been boasting of getting jobs which enable them meet their family needs.
However, some of the bodaboda riders have taken advantage of their popularity to not only be rude on the roads but to also cause fatal accidents and death. Many hospitals are increasingly receiving accident patients forcing health experts to introduce a special unit for motor vehicle accident casualties.
It has now become a habit in Nairobi, and especially in slum areas, that bodaboda riders come together to support their colleagues whenever they get in trouble.
This unity has, however, been taken too far especially when a rider is in outright contravention of the law.
Many motorcycle accidents are due to either careless or dangerous riding but the riders are never accountable for their actions. This is because the riders believe they have a superior backup from their fellow riders.
To protect their own, the riders will always come out in large numbers and surround their colleague posing serious threat to whoever has been involved.
Bodaboda operators have with time become the most superior in the transport, thanks to our greedy traffic officers who would rather take fifty shillings rather than let the riders face the law.
We definitely need to observe the rule of law especially in the slum areas since many lives are being lost on a daily basis without anyone being held accountable.
It is high time everyone observed rules and regulations on the roads. It is better to prevent than to cure.