397 Collaboration and community empowerment: navigating injury prevention among motorcycle riders and passengers

Uganda's transport sector is considerably pressed by the issue of motorcycle transportation safety characterized by a significant presence of motorcycle fleet of over one million and increasing registration rate of more than 100,000 motorcycles annually. Despite recent policy revisions and updates in helmet standards, motorcycle-related crashes persist as a leading cause of severe injuries and fatalities in the Urban areas of the country. This, unfortunately, is exacerbated by numerous factors including a disorganized and yet economically powerful motorcycle (Boda Boda) community, inadequate policy frameworks, and limited awareness regarding the importance of safe helmets. The persistent absence of intersectoral collaboration and community empowerment have contributed to the preservation of a status quo characterised by road injuries. The primary objective of this paper, therefore, is to outline advocacy efforts by a CSO for collaborative efforts in empowering both riders and passengers as responsible road users. Recognizing the pivotal role of safe helmets in enhancing safety, statistical evidence reveals that when quality helmets are appropriately used, the risk of fatal head injuries reduces by 42% and 69% for non-fatal head injuries. Furthermore, the WHO estimates that Quality helmets reduce the risk of death by over six times, and reduce the risk of brain injury by up to 74%. While previous initiatives have generally focused on rider awareness, the need to increase passenger safety has received limited attention, and coordination with enforcement agencies has been inadequate. Consequently, that implementation gap has resulted into minimal community empowerment towards injury prevention. In the above respect, the Uganda Road Safety Action Plan and the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety have been broadly used as the premise for to the national approved standard and public usage of safe helmets. In order to reduce Boda Boda causalities, Safe Way Right Way has encouraged the use of safety helmets through trainings and sensitisations. Notably, the collaboration between CSOs and government agencies has resulted into the improvement of the policy framework on the regulation of Boda Boda riders to desirable standards which presently to conform. Although particular glaring gaps persist, the short-termed success is attributable to collaboration and community empowerment. Therefore, since passenger safety has only registered 5% adherence to helmet usage and that is quite low, as a civil society organisation we have followed the advocacy framework of influencing decision-makers, media outreach, citizen education, grassroots capacity development and various forms of civic engagement. Positive results have been seen with Boda Boda Associations, through training trainers within the association who are constantly conducting in person sensitisation of their members The policy implications are clear; take for instance the impact on the rider apps which presently mandate a rider to carry an extra passenger helmet, a stance that has yielded positive outcomes. Concomitantly, this illustrates the potential for wider adoption of safe helmet practices. This has been supplemented by Boda Boda Riders road safety education and training in other developing urban areas like the Albertine region has evidenced increased road safety vigilance. By emphasizing collaboration and empowerment, this study advocates for a sustainable approach towards achieving widespread adoption of safe helmet practices, thereby mitigating the burden of injuries associated with Boda Boda transportation in Uganda.