CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Irrespective of where one lives, mobility is essential. The reasons for mobility can range from

social interactions to the exchange of goods and services. Therefore, whatever its purpose,

mobility is fundamental to human beings and it is this fundamentality that led man to search for

safer, more convenient and instantaneous modes of transportation. The era of traveling on foot

and the use of animals to pull carts and carriages gave way to the use of ships, automobiles and

airplanes for movement. Thus through the years there was a tremendous revolution in the mode

of transportation and such revolution is continuing.

One of the most utilized and most beneficial modes of transportation in many countries is road

transportation. In Nigeria, about 80% of freight movement takes place on the road (FRSC Digest

2011 in Ukoji 2014).Ofoegbu (2013) corroborates this by noting that about 85% of passenger

and freight movement in Nigeria is done on the roads. This makes road transportation an

important factor in social and economic development of the country. However, this means of

transportation is not without its attendant problems and it has led to certain consequences on the

countries that benefit from it.

Road Traffic Accident (RTA) is one of the problems associated with road transportation. Road

traffic accident is collision involving one or more vehicles or a moving vehicle and a stationary

vehicle/object or pedestrian resulting in deaths, personal injury or damage to vehicle or loss of

physical property (OECD/ITF, 2014). Road Traffic Accidents (RTA‟s) are increasingly

recognized as posing momentous problems worldwide as it constitutes a major public health

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challenge and also creates social and economic problems for countries and societies (Pedan,

Scurfield, Sleet, Mohan, Hyder, Jarawanet al2004).

According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2009) on a global scale, road traffic

accident is responsible for an estimated 1.3 million deaths yearly. In Nigeria, the reported

accident cases in 2013 were 13,583. The number of fatalities from the crashes was 6,450

(OECD/ITF, 2014). Low and middle income countries have higher RTA fatality rates (21.5 and

19.5 per 100,000 populations, respectively) than high income countries (10.3 per 100,000).The

deaths are onlya microcosm of what actually happens. The bigger part is that RTA injures and

disables approximately 50 and 20 million people and 80% of all deaths from injuries occur in

low and middle income countries (Commission for Global Road Safety, 2008). Again, from the

economic perspective, the consequence of crashes is estimated to be 1% and 3% of gross

national product of world‟s countries reaching a total of over $500 billion (WHO, 2011). In this

regard, a World Bank study has shown that the economic development of regions and nations is

associated with an increase in the number of injuries and deaths from road traffic crashes

(Koptis& Copper, 2005).

Substantial empirical evidences indicate that three quarters of RTA deaths are among men and

that the highest impact is in the economically active group (15- 44 years), thus hampering efforts

at sustainable development (WHO, 2013; CDC, 2004; Ediagbini et al 2011; Yamuragiye et al,

2013; Department of Transport, 2009). In this regard, WHO (2013) predicted that injuries from

road traffic accidents (RTA‟s) will be one of the leading causes of disability and mortality

among the most productive segment of the world‟s population by 2020. Similarly, by 2030

unless action is taken globally, RTA‟s will become the 5th leading cause of death surpassing

HIV/AIDS, malaria, hypertensive heart disease and lung cancers.

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From the foregoing, a number of countries have come up with measures to tackle RTA‟s

especially in reducing the seriousness of injuries for victims and saving lives. Paramount among

these measures is an emergency response that is facilitated by communication. It has since been

established that individuals and societies cannot do without communication. Thus it can be said

that communication is fundamental to human beings as it undergirds communities and

organizations which consist of different individuals. Hence over time the modes of

communication have also been completely transformed. Therefore as the modes of transportation

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