A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF ROAD ACCIDENTS IN NIGERIA (FEDERAL ROAD SAFETY CORPS ONITSHA, ANAMBRA STATE 2002-2015)

A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF ROAD ACCIDENTS IN NIGERIA (FEDERAL ROAD SAFETY CORPS ONITSHA, ANAMBRA STATE 2002-2015)

CHAPTER ONE
1.1. INTRODUCTION
Road transportation is by far the commonest means of transportation in Nigeria when compared to other means like air, rail and water. The technology has made life easy compared to previous means of transportation such as the use of animals during the pre colonial era. Nigerian economy despite its flaws, has afforded a large number of its populace the means to own cars making road traffic a major problem with grave disadvantages.
In Nigeria, road accidents have been a disturbing phenomenon that has constituted a menace. It is generally believed but not statistically proven that the rate of road accidents in Nigeria has geometrically increased. Road accidents are caused by various reasons, ranging from carelessness on the part of the drivers to the deplorable nature of our roads. Put differently, Nigerian roads have become killing fields without protection for their users. Travellers heave a sigh of relief if they make their destinations. The worrisome trend has tremendous negative impact on the nation’s health system as well as its social and economic aspirations. It was estimated that the total number of registered vehicles in Nigeria rose between 1990 – 2006 from 700,000 to 6,000,000 (Umar 2010). Despite the happiness this brought and change of quality of family lives associated with owning a vehicle, its possession has made so many families bereaved of their breadwinners or lovely ones due to unprecedented rate of road traffic accidents in Nigeria. According to the Federal Road Safety Commission, not less than
88,520 road users lost their lives between 1991 and 2000 alone, most victims being between 20-40 years. There is need to view road accident as a very major issue requiring urgent attention aimed at preventing premature deaths, reducing the health, social and economic impacts it portends to the average Nigerian. This disturbing assertion will be the bedrock of our statistical study on road accidents in Nigeria.

1.2. STATEMENT OF GENERAL PROBLEM
In Nigeria today, the issue of road accidents have become a teething problem. There has been a major problem of the cardinal factors responsible for road accidents in Nigeria.Another problem is to know if accidents in Nigeria are related to sex, age and educational background of road users. There is also confusion as to the major causes of road accidents in Nigeria. The above problems have been our chief motivators in undertaking this statistical research work.

1.3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
This study is aimed at establishing the following factors:
To know if road accidents in Nigeria are gender based, that is, do female road users fall victim of road accidents than their male counterparts?
To equally know if road accidents in Nigeria are age based.
To ascertain if there is a statistical significant relationship between educational background and road accidents in Nigeria.
To know if record of road accidents in Nigeria has increased or not.
To educate Nigerians and those interested in this study on the outcome of our research

A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF ROAD ACCIDENTS IN NIGERIA (FEDERAL ROAD SAFETY CORPS ONITSHA, ANAMBRA STATE 2002-2015)