Unsafe motorization: A clog in the wheels of sustainable transportation

Abstract

The study investigated challenges of safe motorization in the study area, with a focus on people's perception of 18 pre-selected factors of unsafe motorization. Two hundred and fifty questionnaires were administered with a 100% return rate. Factor analysis technique was conducted using Maximum Likelihood, Varimax rotation and Kaiser Normalization. Also, contingency correlation coefficient was carried out at α = 0.05.Results revealed that over speeding (29.89%), bad roads (8.24%), distraction (7.01%), mechanical fault (6.16%) and improper parking (5.8%) contributed a 57.13% of explained total variance. All the pre-selected factors were judged to be significant to unsafe motorization by no less than 80% of respondents. Results also confirmed a correlation between over speeding and all of accident, injury and death, thus confirming the findings by previous studies such as carried out in Australia, United Kingdom and Sweden, that established association between speed and road accident occurrence, rates and severity. Strategies for promoting safe motorization must be directed towards behavioural change, infrastructural improvement, institutional reawakening and educational amplification.

Keywords

• Sustainability
• Unsafe motorization
• Clog
• Traffic outcomes