The Importance of Enforcing Road Safety Laws to Reduce Road Traffic Collision (RTC) Occurrence and Fatalities in Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction:Road Traffic Crashes (RTC) are one of the most preventable causes of death worldwide, yet are the number one cause of death in Nigeria. In March 2010, the United Nations General Assembly launched “The Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020)” to “reduce road traffic deaths and injuries by 50% by 2020.”Aim:To analyze trends in RTC and deaths in relation to current road safety laws in Nigeria, and possible future interventions.Methods:Annual reports from 2013-2017 were obtained from the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) of Nigeria. These reports were analyzed for trends in RTC, deaths, and reported causes to find areas of possible improvement.Results:The number of RTC and deaths declined yearly from 2013-2017. Crashes decreased from 23.4% in 2013-2014 to 6.2% in 2015, to 0.4% in 2016, and then increased to 3.2% in 2017. Results showed that fatalities from RTC in 2013-2014 decreased by 8.4%, then by 9.3% in 2015, and by 7.1% in 2016, but had a 1.3% increase in fatalities from 2016-2017. Analysis showed that speed violations (SPV) were the top cause of RTC. These had a decrease in the number of crashes from 5,495 (32% of RTC) in 2013, to 3,496 (29%) in 2014, to 3,195 (26.5%) in 2015. They then increased to 3,848 (33.9%) in 2016 and to 4,840 (44.1%) in 2017. There was a decline in reports of RTC caused by driving under the influence (DAD) from 1% in 2013, to 0.8% in 2014, and 0.5% in 2015 and 2016.Discussion:Current road safety laws have been effective in decreasing the total number of RTC and deaths. While certain laws such as those regarding DAD have been effective, other laws such as speed limits have been less successful and may require further changes in legal codes and/or enforcement.