Flying without navigational aids – The case of commercial motorcyclists in Minna, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated motorcycle operators in Minna city with a view to observing the riders’ signaling behavior and the presence or absence of navigational aids and their usage. The study was carried out in three stages. First, at 15 min rapid survey of 3135 motorcyclists was carried at both ends of three pre-selected busy roads with emphasis on observing the possession of navigational aids by the motorcyclists. Secondly, another set of study on signaling behavior was carried out in another three junctions within a 15 min period and finally an interview was conducted among 120 commercial and private motorcyclists from commercial and office parks for a more detailed study. The mean age and mean of riding experience of the commercial motorcyclists were 28(SD = 5.9) and 4 years (SD = 2.1) respectively compared to 32 (SD = 7.4) and 7 (SD = 7.4) years for private motorcyclists. The finidings show that 18.1% of the motorcyclists had no trafficators and as high as 85.3% had no side mirrors. Of the 626 motorcyclists studied for signaling behavior, 574 (91.7%) failed to trafficate while turning at junctions. It was also found that 65 (54.2%) of the 120 motorcyclists interviewed had accidents with their motorcycles. Chi Squared test shows that effect of possession of side mirror on accident experience is not statistically significant (χ2 = 2.11, ρ = .349) while possession of trafficators (χ2 = 5.99, ρ = .050) and driving licence (χ2 = 12.603, ρ = .000) are statistically significant. The study revealed that 61.5% of motorcyclists that have trafficators had experienced accidents which points out the fact tht riding behavior is more critical in road safety than having a perfect vehicle. The study recommends, among others, that the Federal Road Safety Corps and Vehicle Inspection Officers should be as strict with the motorcyclists as they are with the motorists in enforcing road safety.