Impact of Driver’s License Status of Commercial Drivers and the Rate of Road Traffic Accidents in Nigeria: A Case Study of Abuja and Lagos

Background/Objective: The main concern of this research is the continuous involvement of commercial vehicles in road traffic accidents in Nigeria with the magnitudes of the fatalities and huge economic cost implications annually. The objective of this study is to understand and investigate the trends of road traffic accidents in Nigeria and equally examine the effect of the driver’s license status of commercial vehicle drivers on the risk of road traffic accidents in those two sites selected. Materials and Methods: The methodology behind this research includes a comparative research design for evaluation of the two survey locations of Nigeria ́s new and old capital cities with differences and similarities. The research involves quantitative method with the use of 10 questions on Incidences of road accident, driving license status and sociodemographics characteristics which was adapted from the tested five-in-one instrument called LoMICs-DBQ. It is a direct self-reported questionnaire model for data collection as the primary source with these cognitive questions to be answered with a 6-point Likert scale. Other related data was facilitated by the FRSC and National Bureau of Statistics in Nigeria. Simple Random sampling was used to select the total of 600 drivers out of which only 471 gave their consent and subsequently investigated. This study survey ethical clearance was obtained from the motor parks union leaders and participants are registered bus drivers in Abuja and Lagos within their local government authorities. The data collected was analysed using, SPSS 25, line charts, cross-tabulation which a tool for descriptive statistics, chi-square and Linear Regression which are inferential statistics tools to show relationship between the Demographic variables of the drivers, driving license status and the rate of accidents in the two survey relations. Results: The table also shows a coefficient of correlations (R) of 0.665aand the adjusted R square of .257. This means that 25.7% of the variance in the rate of road accident in Lagos is accounted for by all the Driving License Status. The contribution of the independent variable to the dependent variables was not significant (F = 2.383; df =1, 3; p>0.05) and that other variables not included in this model may have accounted for the remaining variance. The table also shows a coefficient of correlations (R) of 0. 461a, and the adjusted R square of -.049. This means that 4.9% of the variance in the rate of road accident in FCT Abuja is accounted for by all the Driving License Status. The contribution of the independent variable to the dependent variables was not significant (F = .812; df = 1, 3; p>0.05) and that other variable not included in this model may have accounted for the remaining variance in the rate of road accidents. Conclusion: There is a significant relationship between demographic variables of the participants and their driving license status, that Driving License Status of commercial drivers in Lagos has a significant effect on the rate of road accidents among the commercial drivers in the state and that Driving License Status of commercial drivers in FCT Abuja has a significant effect on the rate of road accident among the commercial drivers in the Territory. The paper concludes with recommendation for policy makers to take effective, proactive policy design, intervention, and enforcement in order to reduce risk and unsafe driving behaviour on the roads.