Health implications of knowledge, and attitudes for road safety and protective measures among commercial motorcycle riders in a semi-urban setting in Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Knowledge of road safety and preventive measures effectively reduces accidents associated with motorcycles. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of motorcycle riders in the Ado-Odo Ota local government area (LGA) towards road safety and accident preventive measures. Materials and Methods: This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study that used a structured questionnaire to collect data related to knowledge of safety measures from the respondents using a stratified random sampling technique to identify potential respondents. IBM-SPSS version 25.0 for Windows IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA, was used for data analysis. Results: There were 374 respondents, of which 69.0% owned the motorcycles, and 31.0% were hired/rented. The knowledge of road safety and preventive measures among respondents was generally poor (46.5%). Rented/hired motorcycle riders displayed better knowledge (55.2%) than owners (42.6%) (P < 0.05). Factors associated with knowledge include being married COR = 2.48 (95% CI = 1.22–5.08; P < 0.05), secondary/higher education COR = 1.90 (95% CI = 1.19–3.05; P < 0.05), and over 6-year of experience COR of 1.69 (95% CI = 1.08–2.63; P < 0.05). Motorcycle owners displayed better attitudes (71.7%) than hired (57.8%) (P < 0.05). Secondary/higher education COR 1.24 (95% CI = 0.78–1.97; P > 0.05), and good knowledge COR = 4.15 (95% CI = 2.50–6.91; P < 0.005) were the determinants of positive attitudes towards safety measures. The overall prevalence of road traffic crashes was 45.2%, higher among riders with insufficient knowledge (47.5%) and negative attitudes (55.7%) towards safety measures. Conclusion: The government and other stakeholders should organize regular training to improve the riders’ knowledge and attitudes towards road safety and preventive measures due to the riders’ inadequate knowledge of safety and protective measures. These actions will help reduce accident rates and consequently reduce road traffic crashes’ medical and economic burdens.