{UAH} #Boda_bodas involved in more serious (36%) and fatal (27%) crashes than any other type of road user in 2009.

A study conducted by Dr. Edward Naddumba, a senior consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Mulago Hospital, and a team of senior orthopaedic surgeons, reveals that 75% of all trauma cases at the national referral hospital are as a result of boda boda accidents.

Hospital records
According to the Injury Control Centre, Uganda, Mulago Hospital alone receives five to 20 boda boda accident cases every day, resulting to 7,280 cases in year.

A five-year (2008-2012) injury and fatality trends report from Police indicates that 3,043 motorcyclists were injured in accidents last year, a significant increase from 1,795 cyclists injured in 2008.

The same report shows that passenger fatalities as a result of road traffic accidents increased from 3,951 in 2008 to 5,145 last year.

All these problems have been partly linked to the huge expansion of the boda boda industry without proper planning.
Because of poor registration, the actual number of boda boda bikes in the country is not known. But modest estimates indicate that there are over 300,000 boda bodas in Kampala alone.

Steven Kasiima, a senior commissioner of Police, attributes such growth to "vacuum created by unreliable public transport facilities, high public demand for alternative transport services and ease of acquisition of commercial motorcycles through credit facilities from private lenders and banks."

But, the problems are far more complex than that. Unemployment/reactions With 62% of Uganda's youth unable to find jobs, boda bodas have become a source of income for many idle youth.

"I would rather ride a boda boda than starve to death," Sam Kibuuka, who pries the Port Bell route, said. Kibuuka, who left his carpenter's job six years ago, adds: "I could hardly support my family."

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"When a man is stung by a bee, he doesn't set off to destroy all beehives"

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