June 24, 2013

As part of the multi-faceted Ubulamu Bugaga (“Life is your wealth”) campaign, new billboards were installed at boda boda (motorcycle taxi) stations throughout Kampala. Ubulamu Bugaga aims to increase helmet wearing rates and road safety knowledge among boda boda operators through workshops, radio advertisements, and public signage.

Cost and comfort were reported as the main barriers to helmet use among boda boda drivers in the baseline survey. To address the concerns of expense, the billboards feature the image of a man with half of his face helmeted and protected, and the other half unhelmeted, bruised, bandaged, and bloodied, reminding boda bodas of the physical price of riding without a helmet.

In addition to the billboards, two radio ads, running over twelve weeks, address the comfort barrier and cast helmet wearing as a familial responsibility.