Motorcycles in Uganda account for more than 45% of road crash fatalities. Today morning a speeding motorcycle rider, most likely a boda boda, made a U-Turn in front of me on Jinja road just before the Spear Motors junction. Thank God I was alert and I slammed the brakes.
Boda Bodas on one of the roads in Kampala (Photo credit: Daily Monitor)
The taxi driver behind me had no clue and struggled to stop. He managed. The lady driver on the outer lane also had no idea and almost finished off the rider. She froze, the rider fidgeted, and others motorcycles knocked him over… Thank God no one was speeding. The reckless rider got up and SPED OFF.
I wonder what he was running away from and how many have lost their lives in similar reckless ways. In 2023, motorcycles accounted for 44% of deaths in road crashes; the 2,134 people killed were either riding or were passengers, and several thousands were seriously injured.
The behaviours of motorcycle riders are getting out of hand and we URGENTLY need to take some serious ACTION and make our rides safe and save lives.
Joe Walker aka Joseph Beyanga, aka Joe Walker is Media practitioners, a road safety enthusiast raising awareness about saving lives on the road.
He is the former Head of Radio at Nation Media group in Uganda.
