The loud motorcycles with chrome-dipped exhaust pipes, lots of fibreglass and rumbling engines have been associated with youthful rebellion. But as more Kenyans take up biking, how safe are they?
Moses Nderitu, 43, a board member at the National Transport Safety Authority rides an impressive BMW F1200GSA. This is his seventh motorbike and he does not take biking as a trend, but as a reaction to the failure of public transport.
He says motorcycle riders compared to car drivers bear the brunt of high-risk road injuries because of their nature of exposure, hence the aggressive push for safe riding and wearing of protective gear.
“If a rider belonging to our association {bikers club} is not wearing safety gear while riding and a colleague spots them, he would be sidelined as punishment and the rest of the crew won’t be riding with him. Only bikers know how this feels,” says Moses who is also the founder and CEO of Excloosive, a portable toilet supplier.
The bikers’ club also calls out rouge riders on all social media platforms and during their meetings thus serving as a caution and reminder for bikers to always be safe.
Last year alone, the private riders’ community lost about six members in road accidents which were mainly hit-and-run.
“Drivers don’t just see riders, they ignore our presence on the road,” he says. “Most of the time, car drivers who cause these accidents are just mean on the road, sometimes we tend to think that they are just jealous seeing us manoeuvring on the road while they are stuck in traffic and can’t do anything about it,” he says.
Motorists at the Thika Super Highway Photo www.allangichigi.com