Road traffic accidents involvement among commercial taxi drivers in Nigeria: Structural equation modelling approach

Abstract

Taxis are essential to economic growth due to the ease and comfort they offer passengers. This is evident as most cities, especially in Africa, are dominated by taxis providing door-to-door services. However, their susceptibility to road traffic accidents (RTA) raises serious concerns due to their risky driving behaviours. In contrast, studies on taxi driver involvement in RTA due to their risky driving behaviours are sparse, especially in African countries. Consequently, the study examined the relationship between risky driving behaviour and traffic accident involvement among Nigerian commercial taxi drivers using the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. Prior to the structural model analysis, the modified driver behaviour questionnaire (DBQ) was valid. This was assessed through the measurement model, and the results showed that the composite reliability, average variance extracted, and discriminant validity were greater than 0.7, greater than 0.5, and less than 0.90, respectively. Furthermore, the structural equation modeling results show that the driving violation and driving error constructs influenced road traffic accidents among taxi drivers, while inattention error was insignificant (p > 0.05). Although driving violations and errors significantly increase the chances of RTA among taxi drivers, driving violations had a more substantial influence than driving errors. Also, the regression coefficient indicates the risky driving behaviour of commercial taxi drivers accounts for 5.2 % of the RTAs in Nigeria. This research contributed to validating the DBQ for commercial taxi drivers in Nigeria, examining the influence of their driving violations, driving errors, and inattention errors on accident involvement and that inattention error may not necessarily influence accidents, which will aid policymakers in formulating mitigative strategies for RTA reductions. Moreso, it will guide driver trainers in curriculum development for specific commercial taxi driver training.