To wear or not to wear a helmet
Feb 17, 2010
IN a rush to get to her interview on time, Grace jumped on a boda boda through Mukwano lane to Crested Towers. Little did she know that there was a crackdown on boda boda passengers in the city. She was arrested at the Kitgum Road junction for not wearing a crash helmet. The boda boda was confiscate
By Chris Kiwawulo
and Eddie Ssejjoba
IN a rush to get to her interview on time, Grace jumped on a boda boda through Mukwano lane to Crested Towers. Little did she know that there was a crackdown on boda boda passengers in the city. She was arrested at the Kitgum Road junction for not wearing a crash helmet. The boda boda was confiscated because the rider neither had a helmet nor a driving permit.
“We are simply enforcing the law,†says Kampala Metropolitan region traffic chief Lawrence Niwabiine.
Henry Kalulu, deputy Police spokesperson for Kampala Metropolitan region, says the move is to protect the lives of riders and passengers.
The law requires riders to have Third Party insurance for their bikes, a driving permit, and a helmet. The law also requires passengers to wear a helmet. By Friday last week, the Police had confiscated over 2,000 boda bodas, mostly from the Central Business district.
The menace of boda bodas
Boda bodas, one of the quickest means of transport, especially when you are caught up in the middle of a traffic jam in Kampala city, are death traps as the cyclists try to breach traffic laws. This results in frequent accidents, injuring the rider, passenger or both, and in some cases, death. Yet, the majority of the riders and passengers are not protected with crash helmets.
Statistics from Mulago Hospital’s Orthopaedics department headed by Dr. Beyeza Tito, show that injuries resulting from boda boda accidents have more than tripled in the last seven years, from 157 in 2002, to 567 in 2009. But the figures exclude death as a result of boda boda accidents. In 2008 alone, out of the 320 boda boda injuries registered, 110 required surgery, like fixing broken bones with metal.
Crash helmets save life
Boda boda accident victims agree that a crash helmet is very important for both the rider and the passenger in protecting life.
Hannington Kaweesa, a boda boda rider residing in Kawempe, says he narrowly survived death when a speeding truck knocked him down along Bombo Road as he was carrying a passenger.
“If I did not have a helmet, I would be dead now,†Kaweesa, who sustained severe injuries all over his body, remembers. He says he does not remember whether his unprotected passenger survived because he regained his consciousness while at Mulago Hospital.
Leo Sonko, 26, lies in pain at Mulago’s ward 3A. He cannot talk because he badly damaged his teeth in a boda boda accident. Rogers Muganga, a brother taking care of Sonko in hospital, says Sonko together with Katumba Mwambazi, were travelling from Mukono to Mbalala along Jinja Road for burial, when the rider rammed into a trailer.
Mwambazi died shortly after he was admitted to Mulago. Sonko sustained several injuries on the head, a broken leg and bruises all over his body. The whereabouts of the unidentified rider are not known, according to Muganga.
“Perhaps if they were wearing helmets, the injuries would have been minimal. I fully support the use of crash helmets because they protect life,†Muganga says.
Deo Mugisha, 30, a resident of Nansana, could hardly explain his ordeal. He sustained injuries on the head and a broken right leg. Records at Mulago show that he got the accident along Hoima Road a week ago.
Fred Ibanda was hit by a vehicle at Wandegeya junction when he refused to comply with traffic lights. Ibanda had no helmet and sustained injuries on his head when he landed on the tarmac.
Musa Muki and Caned Afatokoto had an accident near the Wandegeya junction. The duo believe if they had helmets, the injuries they sustained would have been averted.
Treatment costly
The average day of stay at hospital before discharge is nine days, at a cost of sh376,729, according to figures from the Orthopaedics department of Mulago Hospital.
For complicated cases involving brain surgery, the patients are referred abroad. For leg and hand fractures, the patients could be amputated.
Some patients have, however, been operated on by medics from Duke University, US. The team of 35, led by Prof. Michael Huglund, have been visiting Uganda annually since 2007, to carry out free surgery.
They have treated boda boda accident victims whose heads and spines get damaged, Dr. Michael Muhumuza, the head of neurosurgery at Mulago Hospital, says.
Huglund says a brain surgery would cost up to $50,000 (about sh100m) in the US.
Muhumuza says a major operation in Uganda can cost less than sh10m in private hospitals and between sh20m and sh30m within the East African region. He adds that they are currently offering free operations at Mulago.
Will it be feasible
“How do I cover my hair with a helmet?†Grace asks, echoing the thoughts of most female passengers.
On arguments that sharing helmets could spread infections, Niwabiine advises the public to either buy their own helmets or wrap a small piece of cloth on their heads before wearing the helmet. This, he says, will avoid direct contact with the helmet. “We are implementing the law because we are concerned about saving lives.â€
For men, however, it is about convenience. “There is no way I can carry a helmet all over the city. It is not practical,†says Steven Lutwama.
In Rwanda, where the law on helmets is fervently observed, it is the rider who buys and keeps the helmet.
According to the national traffic boss Basil Mugisha, the law does not specify who is supposed to buy the helmet. This means that if a passenger can acquire it, they can do so.
Additional reporting by Joshua Kato
and Eddie Ssejjoba
IN a rush to get to her interview on time, Grace jumped on a boda boda through Mukwano lane to Crested Towers. Little did she know that there was a crackdown on boda boda passengers in the city. She was arrested at the Kitgum Road junction for not wearing a crash helmet. The boda boda was confiscated because the rider neither had a helmet nor a driving permit.
“We are simply enforcing the law,†says Kampala Metropolitan region traffic chief Lawrence Niwabiine.
Henry Kalulu, deputy Police spokesperson for Kampala Metropolitan region, says the move is to protect the lives of riders and passengers.
The law requires riders to have Third Party insurance for their bikes, a driving permit, and a helmet. The law also requires passengers to wear a helmet. By Friday last week, the Police had confiscated over 2,000 boda bodas, mostly from the Central Business district.
The menace of boda bodas
Boda bodas, one of the quickest means of transport, especially when you are caught up in the middle of a traffic jam in Kampala city, are death traps as the cyclists try to breach traffic laws. This results in frequent accidents, injuring the rider, passenger or both, and in some cases, death. Yet, the majority of the riders and passengers are not protected with crash helmets.
Statistics from Mulago Hospital’s Orthopaedics department headed by Dr. Beyeza Tito, show that injuries resulting from boda boda accidents have more than tripled in the last seven years, from 157 in 2002, to 567 in 2009. But the figures exclude death as a result of boda boda accidents. In 2008 alone, out of the 320 boda boda injuries registered, 110 required surgery, like fixing broken bones with metal.
Crash helmets save life
Boda boda accident victims agree that a crash helmet is very important for both the rider and the passenger in protecting life.
Hannington Kaweesa, a boda boda rider residing in Kawempe, says he narrowly survived death when a speeding truck knocked him down along Bombo Road as he was carrying a passenger.
“If I did not have a helmet, I would be dead now,†Kaweesa, who sustained severe injuries all over his body, remembers. He says he does not remember whether his unprotected passenger survived because he regained his consciousness while at Mulago Hospital.
Leo Sonko, 26, lies in pain at Mulago’s ward 3A. He cannot talk because he badly damaged his teeth in a boda boda accident. Rogers Muganga, a brother taking care of Sonko in hospital, says Sonko together with Katumba Mwambazi, were travelling from Mukono to Mbalala along Jinja Road for burial, when the rider rammed into a trailer.
Mwambazi died shortly after he was admitted to Mulago. Sonko sustained several injuries on the head, a broken leg and bruises all over his body. The whereabouts of the unidentified rider are not known, according to Muganga.
“Perhaps if they were wearing helmets, the injuries would have been minimal. I fully support the use of crash helmets because they protect life,†Muganga says.
Deo Mugisha, 30, a resident of Nansana, could hardly explain his ordeal. He sustained injuries on the head and a broken right leg. Records at Mulago show that he got the accident along Hoima Road a week ago.
Fred Ibanda was hit by a vehicle at Wandegeya junction when he refused to comply with traffic lights. Ibanda had no helmet and sustained injuries on his head when he landed on the tarmac.
Musa Muki and Caned Afatokoto had an accident near the Wandegeya junction. The duo believe if they had helmets, the injuries they sustained would have been averted.
Treatment costly
The average day of stay at hospital before discharge is nine days, at a cost of sh376,729, according to figures from the Orthopaedics department of Mulago Hospital.
For complicated cases involving brain surgery, the patients are referred abroad. For leg and hand fractures, the patients could be amputated.
Some patients have, however, been operated on by medics from Duke University, US. The team of 35, led by Prof. Michael Huglund, have been visiting Uganda annually since 2007, to carry out free surgery.
They have treated boda boda accident victims whose heads and spines get damaged, Dr. Michael Muhumuza, the head of neurosurgery at Mulago Hospital, says.
Huglund says a brain surgery would cost up to $50,000 (about sh100m) in the US.
Muhumuza says a major operation in Uganda can cost less than sh10m in private hospitals and between sh20m and sh30m within the East African region. He adds that they are currently offering free operations at Mulago.
Will it be feasible
“How do I cover my hair with a helmet?†Grace asks, echoing the thoughts of most female passengers.
On arguments that sharing helmets could spread infections, Niwabiine advises the public to either buy their own helmets or wrap a small piece of cloth on their heads before wearing the helmet. This, he says, will avoid direct contact with the helmet. “We are implementing the law because we are concerned about saving lives.â€
For men, however, it is about convenience. “There is no way I can carry a helmet all over the city. It is not practical,†says Steven Lutwama.
In Rwanda, where the law on helmets is fervently observed, it is the rider who buys and keeps the helmet.
According to the national traffic boss Basil Mugisha, the law does not specify who is supposed to buy the helmet. This means that if a passenger can acquire it, they can do so.
Additional reporting by Joshua Kato