Boda boda operators have been urged to buy and wear quality helmets for road safety after 588 riders died in road accidents between January and June 20.
The National Transport Safety Authority reports the deaths rose by 160 as only 428 riders died in the same period last year.
Some 187 pillion passengers died between January and June 20. Only 160 deaths were reported in the period in 2020.
Road safety campaigners under the National Motorcycle Helmet Coalition plan to begin training riders on defensive riding, boda boda and helmet safety across Kenya.
FIA Foundation will work with Transaid, NTSA, police, hospitals and the private sector in the road safety campaign.
FIA Foundation president Jean Todt said during the launch on Wednesday that the campaign will seek to reach riders across the country over 18 months.
“The training activities will be supported by the donation of safe and comfortable helmets adapted for warmer climates,” Todt said.
Research by FIA in 2018 showed that a motorcycle helmet can reduce the risk of death in a crash by 42 per cent and risk of head injury by 69 per cent.
Todt urged the government to increase user acceptance of helmets and to demonstrate that wearing helmets can be effective.
NTSA director general George Njao said Kenyans have to consider their safety as a shared responsibility.
“We rely on the riders for delivery of goods, food, medicine and many more. We need to strengthen them by ensuring that they are safe by using helmets," he said.
Njao said the authority registers approximately 18,000 riders monthly and most don’t wear helmets because of the weather.
“Some complain that the weather is too hot so they cannot wear the helmets fully. For women, they say the helmet will mess their hair while others are saving costs so they don’t buy helmets at all,” he said.
“We want to start training these people from children to adults. We have to reverse the curve of deaths.”
AU Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy Amani Aboud-Zeid said people need to use better helmets to protect themselves.
"Sometimes it can be expensive but this means you will be safe unlike when you have cheap ones which can easily break when you get into an accident," she said.
"Road safety begins at the design of the road, rehabilitating the existing roads."
Boda Boda Safety Association president Kevin Mubadi said the number of riders suffering injuries to the head is rising.
"Our industry is growing but the challenge to access safe, affordable and appropriate helmets means that the number of riders suffering from serious head injuries are on the rise," he said.
Kenya has amongst the highest road traffic death rates in Africa, with the World Health Organization estimating 12,463 deaths in 2018.
Besides fatalities, road traffic injuries also contribute to a significant proportion of the burden of disability.
In February 2018, there were 1,393,290 motorcycles registered by the NTSA. The numbers have risen in Covid-19 times as boda bodas are used as both delivery services and fast transport to avoid curfew deadlines.
(edited o. owino)