The thought of jumping onto a boda-boda during peak hours is scary, many deaths and broken limbs have been witnessed as riders try to squeeze through lines of speeding cars. Yet boda-boda transport remains a necessary evil in Uganda.

The entry of Safe-boda, a transport company, has changed all this. Donning orange reflectors with phone numbers inscribed on their backs, Safe-boda riders stand out of the crowd of other boda-boda riders. Their orange helmets can be spotted almost in every corner of Kampala now. There is more to Safe-boda than their bright colors. While the ordinary boda-boda riders will be seen riding on wrong lanes and pavements, safe boda riders try to follow traffic laws.

“I now prefer Safe-boda riders because they don’t ride recklessly like other boda-bodas and they always have a spare helmet for the passengers,” confesses one Barbara Aine, a student of Makerere University and a regular rider.

While it is a rule for a passenger to first negotiate over the transport fare on an ordinary boda-boda, the experience is now hussle-free since the fare is calculated by the safe boda application on both the passenger and rider's phones. This has eased transport costs for it rules out cases of riders over charging clients.

The company also trains their riders on safe and defensive riding to avert common accidents.

Wycliff Ahimbisibwe is a safe-boda rider and he looks back at the days before safe boda with regret. “I now get many clients because of this application. I am always on the move, therefore making more money because of increased rides. Clients prefer safe-boda because of our safety,” reveals Ahimbisibwe.

A traffic police constable Zura Aguti attached to Wandegeya Police Station told this writer that they have not recorded many traffic cases involving safe-boda riders.

“Many of them are disciplined and are not as reckless as their counterparts,” said Aguti.

There are however other transport companies that seem to be employing the model of safe riding. These include taxify and Uber boda which all aim at making transport safer and convenient on motorcycles.