A Study of the Use of Intoxicants among Rural Commercial Motorcyclists in Kwara State, Nigeria

Usage of Crash Helmet Among Commercial Motorcyclists in Ilorin, Nigeria

“…All the respondents were found to be males and majority (71.9%) fall within the highly productive age group of 18-40 years (table 1). This is in line with the result of many other studies that commercial motorcycle operators mostly fall within the economically active population (Adisa, 2010;Tunde et al, 2012;Yusuf et al, 2014). The results further show that as high as 74.2% of the respondents have some formal education although, 33.3% of them did not go beyond primary school.…”

“…For instance, the high mean scores of 3.81 and 3.32 for 'helmet usage is important' and 'helmet prevents head injury' respectively, is a clear indication that the respondents are aware of the significance of the protective role of crash helmets. However, this antipathy for helmet use may be the result of the general low compliance with road safety regulations by road users, particularly commercial motorcyclists in Nigeria (Adisa, 2010;Johnson and Adebayo, 2011;Tunde et al, 2012;Olusayo et al, 2015;. Furthermore, reluctance to properly buckle helmet while in use is also an indication of aversion to the use of helmet by the riders, which greatly reduces the effectiveness of crash helmet in case of accident.…”

“…Increasing trend of involvement of motorcyclists in road crashes in Nigeria has been attributed to the uncoordinated mode of operation and low level of compliance with road safety regulations (Gbadamosi, 2006;Tunde et al, 2012). The high rate of use of intoxicants as performance enhancers among commercial motorcyclists is also seen as a contributory factor to the high trend of their involvement in road crashes in the country (Adisa, 2010). Motorcyclists who are high on drugs or other forms of intoxicants are not likely to observe traffic rules, are more likely to engage in risky behaviour, disobey road signals and less likely to protect themselves with crash helmets (Branas and Knudson, 2001;Adisa, 2010;Johnson and Adebayo, 2011).…”

“…The high rate of use of intoxicants as performance enhancers among commercial motorcyclists is also seen as a contributory factor to the high trend of their involvement in road crashes in the country (Adisa, 2010). Motorcyclists who are high on drugs or other forms of intoxicants are not likely to observe traffic rules, are more likely to engage in risky behaviour, disobey road signals and less likely to protect themselves with crash helmets (Branas and Knudson, 2001;Adisa, 2010;Johnson and Adebayo, 2011). Some scholars have also identified the role of what has been termed "road traffic immune delusion syndrome".…”

“…Various studies in Nigeria have indicated that compliance with road safety regulations including wearing of crash helmet by commercial motorcyclists is low (Adisa, 2010;Johnson and Adebayo, 2011;Tunde et al, 2012;Olusayo et al, 2015;. For instance, it is common occurrence to find both the rider and the passenger riding without crash helmets.…”