RISK FACTORS AND SAFETY MEASURES FOR ROAD TRAFFIC CRASHES AMONG INTER-CITY COMMERCIAL DRIVERS IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA
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Date
2018-06
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UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN
Abstract
Motorized road transport has brought benefits that were unimaginable 100 years ago. However, the price being paid as a result of road traffic injury for such benefits is too high.The incidence of Road Traffic Crashes (RTC) is rising world-wide, with1.24 million people killed on the world’s roads in 2010 due to non-compliance with safety measures.The objectives of the study were to: (i) assess the knowledge of risk factors for RTC among inter-city commercial vehicle drivers; (ii) determine the practice of safety measures of drivers; (iii)determine the prevalence of RTCamong the respondents; (iv)determine the blood alcohol concentration of drivers before embarking on a journey; (v) assess the safety profiles of tyres used by inter-city commercial vehicles; and (vi)determine the perception of drivers on the enforcementof road safety laws in Kwara State.
This is a descriptive cross-sectional study in which multi-stage sampling method was adopted to select 410 inter-city commercial vehicle drivers in Kwara State. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using an interviewer administered questionnaire, observational checklist, breathalyzers and coin test. Chi square, multiple regression and t test statistical analyses were done for the study variables and level of significance set at p =0.05.
The findings of the study were that:
(i) majority of respondents (94.4%) had good knowledge scores of risk factors and safety measures of RTC. The observed relationship in training attendance and knowledge scores was statistically significant (p < 0.05);
(ii) the age group 26-55 years had good safety practices compared with those ≤ 25 years and > 55 years. The observed relationship was statistically significant (p = 0.057). There was statistical significant relationship between respondents who practiced safety measures and those who carried out driving test before issuance of license (p = 0.001) and modes of driving skills acquisition (p = <0.001);
(iii) some respondents (7.1%) tested positive for alcohol and the mean blood alcohol concentration was 23.28± 23.32µg/dl;
(iv) three out of ten respondents (29.3%) had experienced RTC in the past;
(v) more than half of tyres were expired (53.3%-57.3%), between 52.0% and 57.3% of the tyres were worn-out and only 1.3% of vehicles had four tyres that passed all the tests; and
(vi) there was significant relationship between the knowledge of risk factors for RTC and perception of road safety laws (p = 0.028). There was statistically significant relationship between perception to road safety laws and practice of safety measures among respondents (p = < 0.001).
The study concluded that majority of vehicles have worn out tyres and RTC occurrence was common among respondents despite good knowledge of safety measures. It is recommended that regular assessment of blood alcohol of the drivers, vehicular tyre inspection, training, retraining, continuous orientation of the drivers and enforcement of relevant laws are critical to addressing the challenges of road safety in Nigeria.
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RISK FACTORS, SAFETY, MEASURES, ROAD, TRAFFIC CRASHES, RTC, INTER-CITY COMMERCIAL, DRIVER, KWARA STATE