What started as an ordinary journey home from work turned into a terrifying encounter with death for a Nairobi man after he was involved in two separate road accidents in less than an hour.
Ian David was travelling along Kangundo Road when he found himself at the centre of two frightening incidents, both involving bodabodas.
The first accident happened after he boarded a bodaboda near Caltex, intending to travel towards a point where he could connect with a matatu to complete his journey home.
But before he could reach his destination, disaster struck.
According to Ian, a trailer crashed into the bodaboda he was riding on, sending both him and the rider into a terrifying situation.
The impact was sudden and violent, but remarkably, both managed to get back on their feet and walk away from the scene.
For many commuters, such an experience would have been enough reason to abandon the journey and seek another means of transport.
But Ian continued.
Second accident strikes
A short distance later, near the Stella footbridge, he boarded another bodaboda—this time using a ride-hailing application.
Little did he know that he was about to experience an eerily similar ordeal.
Another vehicle struck the second bodaboda, throwing Ian to the ground for the second time during the same journey.
Within a short period, the commuter had survived two separate road accidents while travelling as a pillion passenger.
Reflecting on the bizarre experience, he summed it up in a simple but chilling statement:
“Two road incidents. One journey home.”
That was the moment Ian decided he had had enough.
He abandoned bodabodas for the rest of the journey and booked an Uber car to take him home.
After surviving two crashes, he chose the relative protection of an enclosed vehicle and continued his journey on four wheels.
Still shaken by what had happened, Ian reportedly made a brief stop at a bar along the way, where he had what he described as “some S21 fusion to calm my nerves.”
As he finally settled into the car, the seriousness of the evening began to sink in.
A routine trip home after work had brought him dangerously close to losing his life—not once, but twice.
Ian later reflected on how quickly life can change, noting that the incidents had left him deeply grateful to be alive and surrounded by people who care about him.
“Life can change in a matter of seconds,” he said.
His experience has also highlighted the risks faced by thousands of Nairobi residents who depend on bodabodas every day because they are affordable, convenient and often faster than other forms of transport.
However, unlike enclosed vehicles, bodaboda passengers have limited protection when a collision occurs.
For Ian, the frightening experience left him with a simple lesson: sometimes surviving a close call means recognising the warning and changing course.
“Sometimes you just need to recognise the warning and choose a different route. Today, I did.”
What was supposed to be an ordinary commute had turned into a night Ian was unlikely to forget—a journey marked by two crashes, two narrow escapes and one decision that may have saved his life.
