By Anne Robi
FOUR years ago, Daniel Keraryo (25) was in a bodaboda business in Kitunda Ward, Dar es Salaam, before switching to be a shoe-shiner after suffering a mental impairment he experienced in a road crash.
Keraryo got involved in the accident when he rammed onto approaching car along a busy road in Dar es Salaam and sustained serious injuries, which thereafter, forced him to be hospitalised for several weeks.
"He is now a mentally impaired person because of the injuries he sustained on his head... he cannot survive without someone's support and we have to stay close to him for his daily activities to go on," said Lucy Boke, a relative to Keraryo.
Keraryo was taken to the hospital and had brain surgery with the relative further saying: "Doctors told us that Dan suffered a traumatic brain injury and he had to stay long in the hospital... we stayed for about two months before he was released."
Upon discharge, the young man could not fully resume his usual business of eking out a living and without giving details on what caused the collision, Keraryo only recalled that he had no helmet on the day, saying: "I did not wear a helmet, because I never bothered being involved in such an incident."
A diagnosis conducted by Muhimbili Orthopaedic Specialist, Dr Bryson Mcharo, noted that 80 per cent of motorcycle accident victims treated in the referral hospital come as a result of not wearing helmets.
According to Injuries Pattern and Associated Factors study among Patients Treated at Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute (MOI), motorcycle crashes was the leading cause of head injuries, fractures, multiple injuries and mortality for the group.
Here they (bodaboda) account for 53.4 per cent of the road traffic crashes in the country and according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) wearing a helmet effectively reduces the impact of a collision to the head in an event of a crash and by almost 40 per cent likelihood to death.
Bodaboda use, according to Dr Mcharo is characterised by non-helmet users, who endanger their lives by taking wearing a helmet a secondary thing and not essential in their safety. For that matter the specialist calls for enforcement of regulations as strict traffic rules to keep off unnecessary injuries and deaths in the industry.
"The majority of road traffic crashes are preventable and enforcement of safety will help in reducing the occurrence of crashes," said Dr Mcharo.
Even though the annual police reports on traffic indicate a gradual reduction trend in the number of injuries and deaths of motorcyclists in the country, road safety experts and activists still call for enforcement of appropriate helmet regulations that are comprehensive in scope.
Data from traffic police indicates that road traffic deaths on motorcyclists have reduced from 934 in 2015 to 147 in 2019 at the same time injuries recorded in 2015 reduced from 2370 to 191 in 2019. A total of 2, 626 motorcycle road traffic incidents occurred in 2015 and 240 in 2019.
The Head of Legal Department at the Traffic Police Headquarters, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Deus Sokoni, in an interview said that the reduction of motorcyclists' injuries and deaths on roads is attributed to public awareness campaigns concerning safety rules, which have been implemented by police in the country.
"We have put several preventive measures such as creating public awareness campaigns and educating motorcyclists on safety rules including helmet wearing towards reducing road traffic crashes," he says.
However, road safety activists from non-governmental organisations and partners advocate for change and on strengthening helmet wearing law in preventing head injuries and deaths in the country, saying helmet wearing is not on progress as required.
According to research on Injuries Pattern and Associated Factors among Patients Treated at MOI hospital, crashes accounted for majority of victims with head injury (54.3 per cent), fractures (52.9 per cent) and multiple injuries (51.2 per cent) as 80.2 per cent of motor-cycle crash victims with head injury had no helmet, comprehensive helmet wearing rate to help in reducing the irresponsible motorcycle road traffic crashes.
Ms Gladness Munuo, a Road Safety Advocate and Project Coordinator at Tanzania Media Women Association (TAMWA, says the country's road traffic law does not guarantee effectiveness in helmet wearing for 'bodaboda' riders in the country.
"Tanzania has a law on helmet wearing but does not allow effective and mandatory wearing of quality helmet," she said, adding that the current traffic law should be reviewed to empower police to enforce wearing of quality and well fastened helmet and increased penalties for non-wearing.
"We need a law that will empower police to supervise the quality of helmet wearing for all riders and passengers including children," she noted. The existing legislation's loopholes should be reviewed to document children wearing helmets.
A member of the Road Safety Coalition (RTA) on development of safer driving and mobility improvement of existing laws and policies in Tanzania, Ms Irene Mselem said Tanzania should develop a helmet law that will ensure helmet wearing for children using motorcycles.
This is so because road traffic injuries are now the leading causes of deaths for children between 5-14 years and young adults between 15-29 years of age according to the WHO Global reports on Road Safety 2018.
"Helmet wearing for children should be mandatory to reduce deaths and injuries for all group ages as existing risk factors involve all people including children," she notes.
Reached for a comment, a road safety ambassador and legal analyst with Tanzania Law Society (TLS), Mr Markphason Buberwa pointed out too that appropriate road safety law that will boost public acceptability of national's helmet standard and limit market infiltration of substandard products.
He said the majority of motorcyclists opt for substandard helmets due to lack of legislation to oversee effectiveness of wearing quality helmets.
"Yes, we have a national standard helmet but who is responsible to ensure it is accepted and worn by all drivers and passengers?" he questioned and noted that existing law does not mandate traffic police to monitor the quality of helmet wearing.
Having effective helmet legislation will also ensure importation and local production of national quality standards that provide high degree impact protection.
A survey conducted by this reporter in Dar es Salaam found that majority of motorcyclists do not wear helmets, as others do not meet the national standards as the country's commercial market is rampant with poor quality imports sold cheaply.
Even though the Tanzania Bureau of Standard TBC) set and implemented the National standard helmet, law enforcers such as police seem powerless to halt trading and wearing of fake standards. The existing inactive road safety law halts the move.
The Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 Pillar 4 on Safer road users, calls for country member states to set and seek compliance with laws and evidence-based standards and rules for motorcycle helmets to reduce head-injuries.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Developments set an ambitious target of halving the global number of deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes by 2020 as WHO calls governments to take action to address road safety in a holistic manner through involvement from multiple sectors such as transport, police, health, education, and actions that address the safety of roads, vehicles, and road users.
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