Knowledge, Attitude and Compliance with Safety Protective Measures and Devices among Commercial Motorcyclists in Sokoto Metropolis, Northwestern Nigeria

Background: Motorcycle accidents occur frequently in this part of the world as a result of interface among the agent, the host and its environment resulting in fatal consequences. The objective of this study was to assess the Knowledge of, attitude and compliance with road safety protective devices among commercial motorcyclists in Sokoto metropolis, Sokoto.

Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among 307 commercial motorcyclists randomly selected from 40,000 commercial motorcyclists in Sokoto metropolis who are registered with Amalgamated Commercial Motorcycle Riders Association of Nigeria using a multistage sampling technique. A pre-tested 99 item, structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used as the tool for data collection. The Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.

Results: Majority of respondents (67%) had poor overall knowledge of road safety measures, while 60.9% could not identify earplugs. Equally, 77.9% could not correctly identify zebra crossing, and 87.9% were unable to correctly identify the overtake do not overtake road sign. On the other hand, less than one third (30.6%) of respondents had positive attitude towards use of road safety protective devices; with 47.2% of respondents perceiving the use of safety devices as unimportant and 19.5% do not regard adherence to safety protective devices as measure that can prevent injuries from RTA. Majority (99.7%) of the respondents had inappropriate safety measure practice, as most of the respondents reported they had never worn a reflective jacket. In terms speed, 93% of the respondents confessed that they usually ride fast to beat traffic light while 79% confirmed that they observe regulated speed limit, as 32% revealed that they rarely use traficator before turning to a junction.

Conclusion: Most of the respondents had poor overall knowledge of road safety measures, less than one third had positive attitude towards use of road safety measures while majority had inappropriate safety measure practice.

Recommendation: Ensuring formal training, vigorous enlightenment campaigns and enforcement on the use of safety protective devices by the relevant key authorities will greatly help improve the Knowledge, attitude and practices of commercial motorcyclist.