The
19th century industrial revolution resulted in some fundamental changes in the
transport sector and provided more flexibility of movement, speed, and timing.
Since then, there has been an upsurge in both human and vehicular motor
movement, a situation that has also resulted in more fatal road accidents.
Despite
integrated efforts towards reducing fatal road accidents, Nigeria still remains
one of the worst hit countries. With a human population of about 167 million, a
high level of vehicular population estimated at over 7.6 million, a total road
length of about 194,000 kilometres (comprising 34,120 km of federal, 30,500 km
of state, and 129,580 km of local roads), the country has suffered severe
losses to fatal car accidents (Sumaila et al, 2018). Its population density
varies in rural and urban areas at about 51.7% and 48.3% respectively and
translates to a population–road ratio of 860 persons per square kilometre,
indicating intense traffic pressure on the available road network. Undoubtedly,
this immense pressure contributes to the high road traffic accidents in the
country (FRSC 2018).
