STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF ROAD ACCIDENTS

(A CASE IN ENUGU STATE FROM 1993 TO 2000)

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In the world today, transportation which is the conveyance of goods and passengers from one phase to another or the movement of commuter and their goods, produce and products, and/or they themselves from one location to another have played an important role in the development process, thus, serving as one of the aspects of developmental change indicators and structural well-being of the society and government among other sectors or areas of the world socio-economic development.  It provides room not only for transaction of business to take place, market possibility for our goods, produce and products produced, but also makes it possible for such to reach the find consumer(s).

For instance, in Costa Rica, before the inter America – highway was constructed, driving beed cattle on the hoof from grazing lands to San Jose often resulted in a 40 percent less of weight, and imports were necessary to supply local needs. But with and weather highway, it was possible to deliver truck-traider units of cattle over night, and costs Rica become self-supporting in meet.  Also in Bolivia, the highway from cochabamba to santa cruz reduced the travel time in the rainy season from several weeks to fifteen hours and provided a link between the country’s food supplies and its people.  Until then the price of home-grown rice was 50 percent higher than the imported rice because of the high cost of transport. Furthermore, transportation as an integral part of national production and distribution system calls for its development, improvement and better network system as to necessitate or provide a means of servicing domestic and international market.

This is of primary importance in the early stages of economic development because it promotes an accumulation of capital, which allows the economy to progress from the subsistence level at which most production is consumed locally. Therefore, transportation and other government programmes such as education and health care, necessarily compete for public expenditures particularly in the underdeveloped countries.

From the foregoing, the developed nation are efficient and effective in transport business as a result of their improvement and technological advancement over the years.

Nigeria has one of the most modern and best development transport systems – roil, road, air and in-land waterings which transverse the length and breath of the country to link the industrial, commercial, and agricultural centers, that is to say, transportation in Nigeria is traditionally under four major mades namely;- road, rail, water and air.  However, in this study, the researcher zeros down to road transport.

In Nigeria road network, roads are categorized into three; the truck A roads which is the responsibility of the federal Government, truck B roads which is the responsibility of the state Government and the third category-truck C which is the responsibility of the local Government.  Whether truck A, truck B, and truck C roads, these roads are used by the motorists, cyclists, pedestrians either to convey their passengers, goods, produce, products or to reach, transact and communicate with another n different destination.  Road transportation has not only been discovered as the cheapest means of transportation but also provides door-to-door transport services and delivery of goods.

But apart from road congestion which is symptom of the availability of insufficient road space to satisfy, with but difficulty, all demands made upon it, road accident is another difficulty task in traffic management schemes and has been of much concern to various governments of our timer hence, the concern of any well-organised government is how to identify and minimize (if possible curb) the high rate of accidents on our roads today.

We are aware of the number of deaths on the highway being recorded these days.  This places a question mark on the value we attach to human life and property.  It is clear on the basis of logic backed by observations that certain people have worse accident records than others.  This research will investigate why it is so and would also proffer suggestions to check the ugly trends people who drive recklessly or dangerously are potential victims of accidents and are prone to such conditions.  They also constitute a nuisance to the society.

Most accidents have been caused by a whole lot of actors. Prominent among them are as listed below:  

1.       Over-Speeding: Some times may be due to greediness or the tendency to drive as many turn as possible always want to be at the head of others, without considering the consequences.  By so doing they neglect road signs warnings and road traffic regulations and laws.  Thus, the risk of some dangerous.

2.       Drugs/Alcohol: The side effects of drugs or alcohol our body cannot be over emphasized.  These cause drowsiness and finally sleep when during.  They lead to wrong calculations and loss of regard to lvies of human beings and property of such driver concerned.  Some causes excessive alertness and nervousness, loss of control and finally a breakdown of the body system of such person involved.

3.       Roads (Road Accidents Immuned Delusion Syndrome):        Some drivers because they have driven a particular vehicle for years, taxy develop the feeling that they haveovermastered the vehicle and also fully experienced do believe that they cannot be involved in road traffic accident, others or other drivers because of their belief either a shrine, ring, talisman, etc. do believe that they cannot be involved and/or die in road accident, they drive without regard to road traffic regulations and other road users.

4.       The Road:The construction of the road matters a lot. Roads with multiple bands experience many accidents. Poorly constructed road witness many accidents e.g. presence of informal bymps, very narrow roads.  Roads that are poorly maintained cause a lot of accidents.  The absence of road signs also contributes to road accidents e.g to show construction sites, narrow bridges, cross roads, bumps, “T” junction etc.

5.       Negligence of road Signs: Most Nigeria drivers are so illiterate that they cannot read road signs and as such endanger their lives and the lives of others and property.

6.       Aggression:This is psychological.  Also result of or may be due to lack of sleep in the previous night due to one problem or the other.  The driver then wake up annoyed and aggressive.  He jumps into the vehicle without the morning drills, quarrels with the vehicle passengers, co-drivers and road traffic officers etc. thus the risk of accident victimized and even others.  

7.       The Weather:       This comprises the rain and the sun and their effects on the roads.  The rains wet the roads and make them slippery therefore, tyres treads loase grip of the roads and render braking almost impossible as and when desired.  The sun heats up the tar on the road which in tam heats up the tyres.  When this happens, weak tyres tends to burst very easily.  Both conditions causes accidents on our road if not observed.