Influence of Formal Rider Training and Safety Knowledge on Motorbike Safety of Motorcyclists on Eldoret Town

Abstract

Accidents on the road continue to be a public safety issue, predominantly in impoverished and emerging countries. Highway traffic safety is a concern in Kenya and around the world. The advent of the motorbike as a mode of transportation in Kenya has added a novel dimension to road safety that is currently lacking in regulation. Motorbike incidents have aroused eyebrows; however, a small number of developmental studies have been carried out in Kenya to pinpoint the issue of safety. Accidents tend to limit the economic contributions of people in the community, resulting in societal dysfunction. The poll was carried out in Eldoret town and analyzed the Socio-economic aspects of riders on motorbike transportation safety. The survey gathered data on demographic characteristics of riders, levels of official training and safety knowledge among riders influences on motorbike transportation safety. The target population was 10,000. The sample was 370 subjects drawn from Krejcie and Morgan Table. The poll used descriptive survey design, Stratified Sampling methodology with simple random sampling methods to ascertain 370 respondents. Interview schedule was used for the survey. SPSS ver23 and MS Excel were used for organization, summarization, management, and analysis of data. Chi-square and Binary logistic regression were used to check Hypotheses and associations. The Findings revealed that the majority of motorbike riders (85.1%) were youths, (81.6%) had primary education, and 81.9% were married, more than two-thirds of Motorbike riders (82.4%) had not officially trained to ride and did not have a rider's license. The majority of respondents (69.5%) had been working as riders for between four to five years while others prior to becoming motorbike riders, (44.6 %) were unemployed, with (41.1%) worked as casual laborers. 64.9% owned the motorbikes they operated, 67.3% of the motorbikes had no insurance. Binary logistic regression and Chi-Square check disclosed substantial significance respectively amid official training and ownership and accident contribution The findings, recommended the following; there might be need to set a minimum age and level of schooling for riders, bestow color distinct from private motorbikes and that relevant stakeholders must ensure that motorbike have insurance cover, pillion sitting with legs on both sides should not be a gender, culture or religious issue but a safety aspect. Besides it, traffic police should oversee that Traffic Act is not compromised.