SPATIO-TEMPORAL PATTERN OF ROAD TRAFFIC CRASHES INVOLVING TRUCKING OPERATIONS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examined the spatio-temporal pattern of road traffic crashes involving trucking operations in Nigeria. The study deployed both primary and secondary data. The primary data set included the evaluation of the road physical characteristics of six (6) purposely selected routes from each of the six (6) geo-political zones in Nigeria. The selected routes constitute the main notorious and busiest traffic corridors with reference to truck crashes in the country. The Secondary data deployed are records of the magnitude of Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs) in Nigeria from 1990-2016 with a reflection of state by state analysis for the period of investigation of the six (6) routes of study obtained from the Federal Road Safety Corps and the Federal office of Statistics. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data obtained which include Percentages, probability index, Analysis of variance, Factor Analysis and Multiple regression models used to analyse the data obtained. The results of the probability index of minor, serious and fatal crashes as well as number of persons injured and killed showed that the magnitude and pattern of RTC involving all categories of vehicles vary from state to state within the period under investigation. The study reflected a significant variation in the spatial occurrence of truck crashes among the states in Nigeria on the basis of the selected traffic corridors within the six (6) geo-political Zones with an F-ratio of 8.66. An evaluation of the preponderance of truck crashes along the selected six (6) geo-political zones is a reflection of higher truck crashes along lines of economic development, industrial potentialities, commerce as well as political administrative activities being major determinants. There is also a reflection of significant variation in the volume of truck traffic insinuating higher fatality index among states with higher traffic volume. The results of the multiple regression produced F-ratio values of 4.602 which is significant at 0.05 while the factor analysis showed that 5 factors of steep hills, steep slopes, sharp bends, narrow bridges and abrupt intersections provide 75.3% of the total truck crash occurrences which represent the truck crashes black spots in Nigeria. The study concluded that the menace of truck crashes will continue unabated unless concerted efforts are made to revamp the rail and pipeline transport systems in the country and the introduce weigh bridges to checkmate indiscriminate overloading of truck. There is also the need for effective enforcement of all traffic laws particularly speed limits for the different categories of vehicles and road pavements. A regular rehabilitation and construction of new roads across the country remained a crucial approach towards achieving drastic reduction in the occurrences of road traffic crashes involving trucks and other vehicles. Given the fact that incidences of traffic conflicts cannot be totally eradicated in as much as there is vehicular movements.