Study on the Use of Seat Belt by Nigerian Drivers

The use of seat belts while driving vehicles to prevent injuries and deaths has been well reported in the literature. The use of seat belt while driving became mandatory in January, 2005 in Nigeria; the main aim of this study is to determine the level of usage of seat belt while driving for commercial vehicle drivers as well as private vehicle drivers. In the collection of data collection, observatory method was used and the data analyzed using percentages. A total number of 462 vehicles and thus drivers were observed. It was observed that 20 percent of the commercial vehicle drivers use seat belt while 80 percent of the private vehicle drivers were observed to use seat belt. It is then suggested that a three stage approach should be adopted namely; enlightenment campaign by relevant agencies as the first stage, threat of enforcement of compliance as the second stage and actual enforcement should be last stage