Burkina Faso’s celebrity stuntman, who is 72 years old, sped down a dusty road lying back on his moped seat, feet draped over the handlebars wearing no protective gear.
In the central town of Koudougou, Rasmane “Rastafou” Ouedraogo drew admiring gazes as his moped, adorned with Burkina Faso’s red-and-green flags, went by.
Rastafou is one of many Burkinabes who has ridden without protective gear since childhood.
Photo: AFP
“It is not wise to do as I do, but it’s my passion and I have a lot of experience,” the veteran daredevil said.
He has had a lot of experience in hospital, too, even if his nerves seem to be intact.
“When you watch him do his tricks, you are afraid he’s going to fall off, but he always holds on,” said one onlooker, Bruno Ilboudo.
In a country plagued by road accidents, some people were irritated by his high-risk stunts.
One television report showing Rastafou doing moped stunts without any protective gear sparked a row that reopened the debate on wearing helmets, which are rarely worn, despite laws making them compulsory.
Half of Burkina Faso’s road accident victims in the first half of last year were not wearing protective helmets, a report by the Burkinabe National Road Safety Office (ONASER) said.
Official statistics put the number of deaths at about 1,000 per year, but that is thought to be an underestimate.
After the television footage of Rastafou’s latest stunt provoked a backlash, national television presented him with head-to-toe protective gear in front of cameras.
However, the stuntman was quick to stow the equipment away, donning more fashionable combat trousers instead.
“The big helmet was not my size, so I traded it for a smaller one, but it prevents me from seeing during my journeys,” Rastafou said.
Many other Burkinabe riders are reluctant to wear helmets.
A 2006 operation to regulate drivers caused a riot in the capital, Ouagadougou, home to thousands of two-wheel riders.
Yet the lack of a helmet remains the leading cause of head injuries reported in hospital, said Severine Kere, a doctor at the capital’s Saint Desire clinic.
“If you compare the price of a helmet with that of a scanner, you will realize that not paying for or wearing a helmet is more expensive,” Kere said.
In Ouagadougou, where swarms of two-wheelers speed down the dedicated lanes at rush hour, associations conduct awareness campaigns in public spaces and schools to drive home the importance of wearing helmets and of wearing them properly.
“Very often, even when a helmet is worn, it is not fastened at all, or not [fastened] properly, which makes it useless during a collision,” said Sakinatou Segda, a member of the Helmets of Faso association.
The aim is to train “safety conscious citizens” in the long term, said Youssouf Noba, a member of the Zero Drops of Blood on the Road association.
Despite the changes to the law and the awareness campaigns, the accident rate remains high, with most of the casualties aged 15 to 30, ONASER data showed.
In December last year authorities updated a law forcing sellers of two-wheeled vehicles to include a helmet in the transaction.
This adds 20,000 to 35,000 FCFA francs (US$33 to US$58) to each sale, said Henri Joel Kabore, the manager of a motorbike sales company.
“Often customers refuse the helmet, hoping to reduce the cost of the motorbike, but we’re obliged to explain the measure to them, especially as it’s not possible to have the documents drawn up without receipts showing that the helmet is included in the sale,” Kabore said.
In December last year, Burkinabe Minister of Transport Roland Somda promised a government crackdown to enforce helmet-wearing.
However, Rastafou, for one, seems unmoved.
“For now, I’m continuing with my stunts, trusting in God,” he said.
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