IMPACT OF DRIVER DISTRACTION AND ITS EFFECT

Abstract

Deaths and injury from road accidents on the highways of Ghana seem to be on the rise. Along these highways are advertising billboards with attractive, but often very seductive images of females. These images, according to advertisers, are meant to catch the maximum attention within the shortest possible time. Drivers use a large proportion of their visual sensory input, hence visually conspicuous items, such as billboards, are likely to interfere with visual processing tasks. Though few researches have been conducted on billboards and the occurrence of road accidents, as well as driver distractions, none actually focused on the visual elements as far as image mental distractions are concerned. From the positivist paradigm, the study investigated the roles visual elements on billboards play in the occurrence of road accidents. It focused on how these images add to the numerous road accidents. Standard designed survey questionnaires were administered to 200 drivers who ply the Kumasi- Accra highway route on regular basis. The data was analysed with SPSS using descriptive and Crosstab analysis methods. The study revealed that the distractions from these images were factors for these road accidents that lead to injury and death. The study also shows a connection between advertising billboard images and road accidents and how these advertising billboard images have a negative influence on driver-performance. It is therefore being recommended that stakeholders begin to focus on the kinds of billboards being mounted along the highways.