ABSTRACT
According to the World Health Organization, about 1.24 million people die every year as a result of road traffic accidents. Nigeria, like other developing countries, has a high rate of road traffic accidents, one of the highest accident rates in Africa. The aim of the study was to identify the determinants of road traffic accidents among clients of automobile repair workshops within the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria. A cross-sectional (retrospective) descriptive study was conducted among those who patronize randomly selected automobile repair workshops registered under the National Association of Automobile Technicians, Abuja Chapter with focus on vehicle owners and/or drivers who met the inclusion criteria for the study. Semi-structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic data as well as information on driving characteristics, involvement in accidents and circumstances around such accidents. The data was analyzed using Epi info version 7. Univariate analysis of human, environmental and vehicular factors responsible for accidents was done; bivariate analyses were done to determine the odds of involvement in accidents with respect to modifiable human factors. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. A total of 298 respondents were vehicle drivers. Males made up 225 (85.6%) of these. One hundred and twenty one (40.6%) of the respondents fell within the age group of 30 - 39 years. The mean age was 35.9+8.6 years. One hundred and twenty two (40.9%) picked phone calls without hands free device; 188 (63.1%) tuned their radio when driving. A total of 194 (65.1%) had been involved in an accident in the past, the average age among this group was 37.4+ 8 years and 166 (85.4%) were males. About 31 (16%) accidents occurred on Mondays and 29 (14.9%) xiii on Fridays. Seventeen (8.8%) accidents occurred on Saturdays. Fifty-seven (29.4%), of the accidents happened in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC). Forty-nine (23.3%) of the accidents were head on collisions, 43 (22.8%) occurred at night and 38 (19.6%) occurred at Tjunctions. Twenty-five (12.9%) of the respondents said their brakes failed at the time of the accident. Age, duration of driving and area council of respondents were significantly associated with involvement in accidents. Those that read text messages while driving were about 3 times as likely to be involved in accidents as those that did not; this association was higher among female drivers. About half (49.5%) of the accidents were severe. Of those involved in accidents, 145 (74.7%) of the drivers had a seatbelt on at the time of the accident. There was no statistically significant relationship between use of seatbelt and severity of accident. The study recommends continuous advocacy and sensitization on safe driving including use of seatbelts and avoidance of phone use. Also, traffic lights or traffic wardens should be deployed to T- junctions and U-turns.