Safaricom has partnered with the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to provide training to bodaboda riders on road safety rules as part of efforts aimed at reducing the number of road accidents experienced during the festive season.
The training, which would be done in conjunction with the National Boda Boda Association, is aimed at promoting responsible and proper usage of the road by all road users and would see riders sensitized on the importance of possessing an insurance cover.
According to Safaricom Chief Executive Officer Peter Ndegwa, the campaign would also seek to drive awareness on key safety areas, including the need to always obey traffic lights, avoid speeding or overtaking on the wrong side of the road and availability of helmets for boda boda riders and their passengers.
“Kenya’s boda boda industry has grown to become an integral part of the transport sector, and it also provides a livelihood for many.
However, it has also become a leading cause of road-related incidents, and we want to play our part, however small, in creating awareness and driving a Zero Harm agenda, such that no one is harmed while on the roads,” Ndegwa said.
The Chairperson of NTSA board, Agnes Odhiambo, noted that the campaign comes at the backdrop of the growing number of boda boda related fatalities between the period of January and November this year, motorcyclists accounted for 1,508 deaths out of the total number of 4023 road fatalities recorded.
Additionally the leading cause of motor cyclists’ accidents was attributed to failure to wear protective and reflective gear, dangerous overtaking among others, and therefore the training would greatly contribute to the reduced numbers.
“We are pleased to once again join hands for an initiative that seeks to bring sanity to our roads. Given the fact that we are approaching the accident-prone December period, the timing of this launch couldn’t have come at a better time,” Agnes added.
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