Nakuru traffic commandant, Joseph Mwangi, is proposing the opening of a county government bodaboda riding school as one way of reducing accidents.
Mwangi says that majority of the riders have never set foot in a driving school and therefore have no idea about the traffic rules as well as the road safety tactics.
Speaking on Monday morning during a free traffic training for bodaboda operators at the Bondeni police station, Mwangi said that the county government should open a driving school specifically for bodaboda riders and force all them to pass through the school before being allowed to operate.
“90 per cent of all bodaboda riders in Nakuru town have never gone through a driving school, they just learned riding in an open field somewhere and that took several hours and they found their way into the business. Most of them have no idea of any single traffic rule and in times of danger they get confused because they don’t know how to react,” he said
He added, “To reduce the number of accidents being caused by these riders the government needs to set up a driving school for them where they will be taken through driving lessons before being allowed to get onto the road.”
Nakuru bodaboda riders’ association secretary general Simon Ongoro said that they have been encouraging their members to familiarise with the traffic rules and said that they are willing to work with the county government and the police in bringing sanity in the bodaboda industry.