Influence of information, education and communication on road safety amongst Boda-boda motorcyclists in Kenyan cities

Abstract

This study sought to investigate the influence of information, education and communication on road safety amongst Boda-boda motorcyclists in Kenyan cities. Road safety has become a major concern with over 1.35 million people losing their lives worldwide annually and over 4,000 people losing their lives in Kenya. Human behavior on the road causes 90 per cent of death and injury amongst road users with Boda-boda motorcyclists contributing 58 per cent of all road accidents in Kenya. This study was anchored on the social cognitive theory, the safety culture theory and the uses and gratification theory. The study used a pragmatic philosophical paradigm with a convergent parallel design of the mixed method research. Stratified sampling and simple random sampling were used to draw the target population of 399 Boda-boda motorcyclists from the four cities in Kenya. Interviews were conducted with twelve key informants. Quantitative data was collected from the motorcyclists by use of semi-structured questionnaires while key informant interviews were used to collect the qualitative data. Descriptive and inferential statistics was used to analyze quantitative data while qualitative data were analyzed using thematic data analysis. The findings show that influence of information, education and communication has a significant impact on predicting road safety hence showing a potential synergistic effect between the two factors. In conclusion, behavior change communication interventions aimed at Boda-boda motorcyclists significantly contribute to road safety. Tailored educational materials and training programs were recommended as a unique way to address the needs and literacy levels of Boda-boda motorcyclists.