Motorcycles turn into death rides

By Standard Team

They lie in their hospital beds, broken limbs strapped onto suspenders and weights. Others sport heavily bandaged heads, the whiteness of the bandaged soaked by blood oozing from the wounds underneath. When they crashed, they had no helmets on, and the motorcycle they were riding was jostling for space with four-wheeled vehicles, some cruising at speeds of 150 kilometres per hour.

You will be lucky to see their eyes; in many cases they are either squinting, or buried in the swelling from the motorcycle crash.

The late Kahindi Gona drove his family of two to death in Magarini. They were buried last Saturday. Photo: Paul Gitau/ Standard

Still, there are those who cannot, and may never, walk again, because of paralysis from broken or twisted spines. The ones who survived and left hospital bear permanent scars, and are either limping or sprouting neck braces. Many use crutches and wheelchairs.

Then there are those who died, either at the time of impact, or later in hospital. Many are battling bedsores, their families crushed by the burden of the high cost of treatment that has crippled the family’s breadwinner.

The story is the same across Kenya. What was supposed to be cheap mode of transport is now a curse.

The ‘careless’ community needs cheap and accessible transport, and the rider needs quick money.

Lessons for the ‘pilot’ on driving the motorised two-wheelers last no longer than one hour, after which a wad of notes pressed into the hands of a police officer ensures ‘qualification’ as a ‘commercial pilot’ simply involve the palm of the police. In many of these places; it just takes an hour to ‘qualify’, not just as a rider but as a ‘commercial pilot’.

Add to this inexperience, is the blur of alcohol, non-existence cyclist paths, and rough road conditions and you understand why the accidents on our roads continue to be on the rise.

This is the recipe that has seen 70 per cent of admissions in our surgical wards being courtesy of motorcycle accidents alone.

But how cheap is cheap? That is the question many are left asking given that with between Sh40,000 and 100,000 one can get a brand new cheap import from India, China, Japan and the Koreas. But one accident costs around Sh500,000 to treat.

The dent on the economy is obvious — yet the need for cheap transport cannot be gainsaid.

It, after all, costs less than one dollar or Sh78 to fuel these motorbikes for a 50-70-kilometre journey. But, when the crash comes, all hell breaks loose, dozens cry or are even orphaned.

The pain wipes away the gains in towns and villages made that have upgraded from bicycles to being single-engine ground planes.

Just what went wrong? Who gave us the poisoned chalice? When will this madness stop? Who will stop it? Why did we go for the motorcycles before putting in place the appropriate policing and infrastructure?