Motor cycle business has over the recent time been n the rise. It is undisputable that there has been an increase in the number of motorcycle operations mostly in the developing countries in Africa; this does not imply that there aren’t’ many motorcycle businesses in the developed nations. The business has been of great help to the people, customers and the government as a whole (Avwioro, Egwunyenga, Iyiola, Odibo, Onyije,, Oyinbo & Mgbere., 2022). The people operating the businesses have been able to get income from the business and as a result, their standards of living has increased.
This has helped them meet their daily basic needs. It has also helped in reducing poverty rates among the people. on the part of the customers, the business has served as a means ofi complimenting other forms of transport and is a faster means as compared to other modes of transport ((Avwioro, Egwunyenga, Iyiola, Odibo, Onyije,, Oyinbo & Mgbere., 2022).. On the part of the government, the motorcycle sector has helped the economy by increasing the total revenue earned by t. this has helped the economy meets most of its needs more so those that re related to financing other sectors of the economy.
In spite of the benefits that the sector adds to the economy, motorcycle industry is known for its vices in many countries. Over speeding is one of the issues that makes the sector eat logger heads with many authorities. In many developing countries like Kenya, over speeding is the main cause of motor cycle accidents. It has resulted to loss of life of many people. in bid to control this, many governments and ministries have worked to ensure that motor cycle over speeding is controlled. I spite of the many attempts by the government to control motor cycle over speeding, the efforts have not been able to bear any fruits (Hong,, Iwamoto, Goto, Young, Chomduangthip, Weeranakin, & Nishi,., 2020).
How Motorcycles get Away with Speeding
There are a number of factors that have made it easy for motor cycle operators to easily get away with over speeding. Some of the reasons why that have made it easy for motorcycles to easily get away with speeding include:
Corruption
Corruption in many countries is the reason behind many motorcycles operators have been able t get away with over speeding. Many motor cycle operators prefer bribing the police officers when found with the crime of over speeding. Cases of bribery has in evident among many motor cycle operators. They do this so as t escape the law tat could penalize them for the crime of over speeding. With this being the case, they have been able o get away with this since after all, the custom is that they can break laws and give “something small” so that they be set free.
The police instead of fighting this and warning motor cycle operators that go beyond the normal speed, they have been like a catalyst and thus encouraging the breaking of road safety laws that warn against speeding (Mugambi., 2021). For motorcyclists to not be able to get away with speeding, corruption needs to e strongly fought and condemned.
Imprecise Laws
Laws are rules of conduct that are paced to guide the conduct of behavior of people and are normally put in place by toes in authority. They are always binding to these that it has been imposed on. And anyone that violates them is subjected to punishment. Motorcycle operators also have their road safety rules that are meant to guide their operations. the laws have not been effective in curtailing motorcycle over speeding since they are so imprecise. Many laws do not state the requirements needed for people to fully operate motor cycle (Aizpuru, Farley, Rojas, Crawford, Moore Jr & Wagner., 2019).
The available laws do not even state clearly the speed limits for the motorcyclists and thus they have made many motor cyclists get away with overseeing and thus risking he lives of those they carry and the drivers also. The poor policies have thus resulted to poor monitoring of motorcycles and their operations.
Speed and Maneuverability
It is undisputable that speed and maneuverability jointly determine escape success. Motorcycles are able to move even in places that even motor vehicles cannot pass. Their ease of maneuverability has made it easy for them t access most inaccessible areas. Motor cycles are known to have a higher speed than even vehicles. As a result, they have been able o get away with most speeding crimes they cannot be easily caught. Their small size is also an advantage to them; motorcycles are able to access places that cannot be accessed by vehicles.
They are able to beat traffic since they can utilize the small spaces left ((Aizpuru, Farley, Rojas, Crawford, Moore Jr & Wagner., 2019. When they commit speeding mistakes and the authorities are on their necks, they decide to use such advantages to escape from the arms of the law. Motorcycle operators cannot be caught by police officers riding on vehicles. This gives them confidence since they know that they can easily get way with whatever they do.
Speed gauzing
Speed gauzing has actually been on the rise over years with many motorcyclists learning ways to dim speedos and coming up with tricks keep their speedos hidden. Motorcyclists especially YouTube bikers tend to obscure their speedometers when riding with the claim that it is part of their creative work or their edits. Severe laws on speeding such as setting up speed cameras and having police radars has really been a problem for many motorcycle riders. This is due to the constant charges they get for speeding (Ali, Hussain, Abdullah & Dom., 2018). Motorcyclist also put cameras near the speedos to avoid being detected by the speed cameras or radars. The police thus find it difficult to give them penalties for their fast riding since they have no proof to hold them accountable for speeding. For this reason, motorcyclists evade penalties and charges that comes with them speeding.
Anonymity
The motorcycle industry is one that is characterized by high degree of anonymity. This is evident in the type of motorcycles they ride, the reflectors they wear and also the helmets they wear. With all these, identifications by the police after over speeding ha proven to be difficult since many people use them. Motorcycle riders hide their identity to avoid speeding fines. There is huge invisibility that comes with motorcycle riding due to their use of protective helmets. Since motorcyclists use masks, it is hard for the police to pin them for they have no idea who the rider is (Ali, Hussain, Abdullah & Dom., 2018). With this it is clearly a “no face no case” situation. Reflectors make them anonymous in that all riders have the same type of reflectors and also there riding gears are similar. In this case it is hard for the police to know who is who thus making motorcycle riders go Scott free for speeding.
Information Asymmetry
It is a situation In which two parties involved in an activity have good different information levels. This makes one person be at an advantage than the other and thus they are able to use the information at the expense of another. It Is common in many industries and the transport sector is among the industries. This is mostly seen in motorcycle industry since motorcyclists have the information on the whereabouts of traffic police.
In many instances it is hard for riders to be charged or fined since they know where the police are and at what time they are at a certain location (Sherwani, Sapuan, Leman, Zainuddin & Ilyas., 2021). Most motorcyclists work hard in hand with each other to share information about police stops or traffic police locations through phones, hand signals and even flashing lights. With this kind of information motorcyclists have an upper hand over the police and they can easily get away with speeding.
Location Selectivity.
Motorcyclists are very flexible since they can easily choose places that are less invaded by authorities. As a result, they are able to easily overspeed and the choose routes less taken by other motorists. This as helped them escape many police officer. A significant number of riders choose locations that have minimum police supervision and less traffic congestion Africa for instance, feeder roads are a good location for motorcyclists to operate in for they are not busy and they have less motor vehicle movements compared to main roads or super highways (Sherwani, Sapuan, Leman, Zainuddin & Ilyas., 2021). Feeder roads also have less bumps, bumps are essential in limiting speed. Roads that lack bumps and police surveillance often attract many motorcyclists. If police implement surveillance on this location the riders move to other locations that fit their needs and this ends up being like a cycle.
Conclusion
The motorcycle sector has really grown in many countries and has had its fair and unfair share. It has been of great help to the operators themselves since it has made them earn incomes thus improving their livelihoods and raising, he standards of living. It has benefitted the eutomers since it has complemented other means of transport. It is useful to the government since revenues have been collected from, he taxes imposed on fuel and the importation of motorcycles. Motorcycle operators are known for over speeding and some of the reasons why they get away with such cases is because of corruption, imprecise laws, speed and maneuverability, speed gauzing and location sensitivity.
References
Aizpuru, M., Farley, K. X., Rojas, J. C., Crawford, R. S., Moore Jr, T. J., & Wagner, E. R. (2019). Motorized scooter injuries in the era of scooter-shares: a review of the national electronic surveillance system. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 37(6), 1133-1138.
Ali, A., Hussain, R. M., Abdullah, M., & Dom, N. C. (2018). At-Ear Noise Levels Under the Helmet: A Field Study on Noise Exposure of Young Motorcyclists. Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences, 10(3S), 218-231.
Avwioro, G. O., Egwunyenga, A., Iyiola, S., Odibo, E., Onyije, F., Oyinbo, C. A., … & Mgbere, O. (2022). Commercial motorcycle operators pose high risk for community transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in South-South Nigeria. Scientific African, 15, e01065.
Hong, V., Iwamoto, S. K., Goto, R., Young, S., Chomduangthip, S., Weeranakin, N., & Nishi, A. (2020). Socio-demographic determinants of motorcycle speeding in Maha Sarakham, Thailand. PLoS one, 15(12), e0243930.
Mugambi, E. M. (2021). Motorcycle Transport In Kenya And Its Security Implications A Case Of North Imenti Meru Sub-County (Doctoral dissertation, Daystar University, School of of Arts and Humanities).
Sherwani, S. F. K., Sapuan, S. M., Leman, Z., Zainuddin, E. S., & Ilyas, R. A. (2021). Application of polymer composite materials in motorcycles: A Comprehensive review. Biocomposite and Synthetic Composites for Automotive Applications, 401-426.
