Urgent motion is required to deal with the boom in sub-Saharan bikes to ship on security, sustainability, and local weather warns a new report by NGO Amend, the FIA Foundation, and the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM).
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The report, ‘The Wheels of Change: Safe and Sustainable Motorcycles in Sub-Saharan Africa,’ examines the motorcycle boom on the African continent. It makes suggestions with a proposed Action Agenda to maximise motorcycle advantages whereas managing and minimising their dangers. The report identifies that:
- Motorcyclists account for greater than half of highway deaths in lots of sub-Saharan nations and as excessive as 70%;
- There are 27 million registered bikes in sub-Sahara Africa in 2022, rising from simply 5 million in 2010;
- Motorcycles have grow to be vital sources of casual employment with 80% used as taxis or for supply companies;
- Standardised helmet use is the one handiest manner of lowering motorcycle head accidents by as much as 72% and fatalities by as much as 39% (in accordance with WHO). Legislation and enforcement for protected use by riders and passengers alongside licensed requirements, with strong testing services, are wanted;
- Anti-lock braking programs (ABS) can scale back fatalities by as much as a 3rd. Government-mandated ABS on new bikes, as has been lately launched in China and India, would have a big affect;
- Road design should think about motorcycle security, deploying velocity discount and designing applicable or purpose-built infrastructure;
- There should be pressing emphasis on offering protected, clear and reasonably priced city public transit to offer real options and stem motorisation.
Over the previous twenty years, the variety of bikes* in Sub-Saharan Africa** has grown quickly, pushed by low-cost imports and the expansion of casual industrial enterprise. They have been used to deal with mobility gaps in formal and public transport programs, reaching remoted rural areas, providing navigation via overcrowded city streets, and supporting first and last-mile journeys. Distribution of bikes varies by nation; Burkina Faso and Mauritius boast the best proportion by inhabitants whereas Nigeria has the most important quantity, totalling an estimated 5.1 million. The motorcycle boom helps livelihoods and economies by providing new mobility and commerce choices and their use is predicted to unfold and develop. Young males, who typically battle to search out formal financial alternative within the area, have notably benefited. Millions of individuals depend on the sector via ancillary roles.
The well being impacts of bikes are, nonetheless, profound, the report warns. Motorcycle riders account for greater than half of all highway deaths in some nations: In Togo, the determine is over 70%. More than half of all youngster pedestrians injured on the roads in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, are hit by a motorcycle. Road site visitors loss of life charges proceed to rise throughout Africa. As nicely as the chance of harm, there are additionally wider unfavorable environmental, well being and social impacts.
Dr Olive Kobusingye, Distinguished Fellow at the George Institute for Global Health, mentioned: “Transportation systems are failing, unable to meet the needs of the millions of people trying to get into, across and out of the continent’s dense urban centres. Hospitals across Africa are overwhelmed by road traffic injuries, in particular motorcycle-related injuries. African countries need to pay urgent attention to urban transport. Bold and decisive planning and execution are essential to change the overall mobility of our cities.”
Saul Billingsley, FIA Foundation Executive Director, mentioned: “In the rapid growth of motorcycle use we see the balance between lives and livelihoods played out on the streets. Motorbikes provide relatively cheap transportation, but they are expensive for society in injury and environmental damage. With some African cities predicted to double in size in the coming decade there is an urgent need for an action agenda that both mitigates these negative impacts, with a focus on motorcycle helmets, ABS and electrification while planning for a low carbon future based on widely available, clean public transportation.”
Tom Bishop, Program Director at Amend and the report’s lead creator, mentioned: “I wholeheartedly support efforts to develop mass transit systems in African cities, to reduce dependence on private vehicles and to promote walking and cycling, but no matter how much investment and success there is in these areas, motorcycles will still have a part to play in the coming decades. Motorcycles provide mobility, employment and income. Governments, riders’ associations, private companies and international organisations must work together to develop and implement effective and appropriate regulation and training, promote the availability and use of good quality protective equipment and safety technology, consider motorcycles in road design, and support the transition to from petrol-engine to electric motorcycles.”
Jorge Viegas, President of FIM, added: “Africa needs mobility and motorcycles provide it. As a result, Africa is one of the fastest growing regions for motorcycling. This excellent report highlights several solutions for the inevitable challenges this growth brings, but it also notes the significant economic benefits motorcycling brings to the riders and their communities in both urban and rural areas. We are also very pleased to see that the current work to improve safety being undertaken by motorcyclists themselves in the region, such as boda boda associations, has been recognised. Now the focus rightly moves to governments to take up the challenge to make motorcycling in Africa cleaner, safer and more accessible.”
Notes to Editors
* The time period ‘bikes’ refers to each 2- and 3-wheelers.
** Defined as all 49 internationally recognised nations that lie absolutely or partially south of the Sahara, referred to within the report as ‘Africa‘.
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1947542/FIA_Foundation.jpg
SOURCE FIA Foundation
