The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) data reveals a worrying trend in which motorcycle accidents now kill more than vehicles.
Armed with a small deposit, a guarantor and a Kenya Revenue Authority pin, an individual can become a boda boda rider without any training whatsoever.
Most driving schools charge Sh6,000 for a one-month training in riding a motorcycle, which they find costly.
Fatalities on Kenyan roads continue to rise every year with reckless driving, dangerous overtaking, drunk driving and riding often attributed to the increase in crashes.
The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) data reveals a worrying trend in which motorcycle accidents now kill more than vehicles.
Every year 400,000 people venture into boda boda sector. Armed with a small deposit, a guarantor and a Kenya Revenue Authority pin, an individual can become a boda boda rider without any training whatsoever.
The riders opt for backstreet training that takes less than one day because it is cheap. Most driving schools charge Sh6,000 for a one-month training in riding a motorcycle, which they find costly.
However, this shortcut has always come at the expense of not only their lives but also of other road users. The resultant unruly riding has often claimed boda boda riders lives while those who survive are left paralysed yet 90 percent of the riders are the breadwinners of their families.
Last year alone, at least 1,634 motorcyclists and their passengers lost their lives on the road, accounting for the highest number of fatalities experienced.
The year before, between January and September, 1,026 riders and their passengers died. In 2019, the figures were not any better with 1,421 riders and pillion passengers dying compared to 1,049 drivers and passengers.
It is these grim statistics that 30-year-old Ken Mwangi seeks to reverse with his speed governor innovation for motorcycles.
Statistics show that at least 70 percent of motorcycle accidents involve speeding.
Salama motorcycle speed limiter is an invention by Mr Mwangi and his partner Dominic Kamau seeking to rein in reckless boda boda riders.
The speed governor is designed to safely cut off engine power when a motorcycle exceeds speed limit of 50 kilometres per hour. Through a speed sensor and micro-circuit unit fitted in the device, maximum speed is maintained. The two work together to control the set maximum speed by the sensor relaying data on the micro-circuit unit.
If a rider tries to exceed the maximum set speed, in this case 50km/hour, the micro-circuit unit automatically cuts off engine power. The result is that the motorcycle will immediately reduce its speed as the micro-circuit spontaneously controls the relay to recover the engine power in a very quick, safe and effective sequence.
“The process is so seamless that you cannot feel it. You will just notice that there is no more power and you cannot accelerate more. Once you release the gas accelerator then the motorbike regains its engine power,” says the chief executive at Alerby Logistics Innovation Limited.
He says the fourth-generation speed limiter meets the speed governor standards as set out by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) incorporating a tamper-proof option guarding against any rider interfering with it.
“The NTSA sent us to Kebs who informed us to use motor vehicle standards, which we have incorporated where all functionality on motor vehicle speed governors are found in this gadget.
“Trying to meddle with the speed will see the engine power cut off,” he explains.
Mr Mwangi says the maximum speed can be configured to a limit that the government sets for motorcycles. Public transport vehicles have a speed limit of 80km per hour.
But that is not all. The speed limiter incorporates fleet management module, tracking systems, geo-fencing capabilities and a SIM card that stores data used to monitor the gadget wherever they are.
The inbuilt tracking system is fitted with GPS and GSM trailing capabilities, which allows for real-time monitoring as the system generates immediate reports of where the motorcycle is at any time of the day and night through phones, tablets or personal computers. The report contains current position, riders profile, routes taken, distance travelled, and real time speed record, exact location and power disconnection alert, giving information of the rider’s behavior, speed and location via SMS and GPRS.
Although he admits that the gadget will not be able to 100 percent stop motorcycles theft, it can reduce the crime significantly as one is able to cut off the engine directly from the devices enabling faster recoveries in case of theft.
“Once we install the gadget, we configure the bike to start using the wiring of the tracker and so it depends 100 percent on the limiter. Once you steal or remove the limiter, you will have to rewire the bike. You will need time to do all that as it is too much work that you better just go and buy a new bike,” says Mr Mwangi.
He explains that the device is designed to give security agencies enhanced control of boda bodas, which are major facilitators of insecurity in Kenya as 80 percent of most crimes committed in the country are aided by boda boda riders because they are fast and are easy to maneuver with in crowded places.
“The device will give police real-time and historical data of all boda bodas, making it easy for them to identify culprits, incidents and accidents. This will enable them to know which bike was where and you can also trigger an alarm as it basically, it records everything the rider and the bike have done from the time the boda boda is put on to the time it is switched off.”
Further, the geo-fencing system allows users to configure settings to allow boda bodas only operate in the required geographical areas.
Should they trespass, the system kicks in and cuts off the engine bringing the boda boda to a stop. This can be done in real-time and from the comfort of one’s phone, computer or tablet.
In 2018, 204,000 motorcycles were registered up from 199,400 that were ushered onto Kenyan roads in 2017 and 2016’s newly licensed 145,900 motorcycles.
Already, they have carried out a pilot of the gadget with 40 boda boda riders who were used to test the efficacy of the device. Going forward, they have struck a deal with Domino’s Pizza to fit their motorcycles with the gadget.
“We collected the data and got the gadgets back. There were a few areas that we needed to fix which we have done so. For now, we are still engaged in talks with relevant government agencies before we roll out the gadget,” he avers.
In terms of cost, the gadget will go for Sh9,000 but the unit price is expected to drop significantly once the firm embarks on mass production of the speed limiters.
A unit goes for Sh9,000 but when we start mass production then we expect the price to go down. Mr Mwangi adds that they are in talks with an investor who is seeking to buy the gadgets in bulk then offer the boda boda riders on a staggered payment plan depending on the agreement between the two parties.
“Currently, we are shipping parts of the gadget through air but once we are able to start shipping them by sea for mass production then the cost will go down,” he explains.
