The use of crash helmets among commercial motorcycle riders in Ogbomoso, South-West, Nigeria

Abstract

Despite the fact that the incidence and prevalence of road traffic crashes especially involving the motorcyclists in this environment have continued to increase, with attendant complications like head injuries, majority of our motorcyclists have remained without their helmets while driving. This study was carried out to determine the use of crash helmets among motorcycle riders and their passengers in Ogbomoso. This was a community based cross sectional study carried out among commercial motorcyclists in Ogbomoso, in Southwest Nigeria. The instrument used in collecting data was a semi-structured interviewer administered questionnaire. A total of 111 male commercial motorcyclists were recruited for the study. Data was analyzed using Stata 12 statistical software. About 62 (56%) of the participants had been involved in road traffic crashes since they started to ride motorcycle. Even though 100 (90.1%) participants claimed to have the crash helmets, only 29 (29%) regularly wore the crash helmets. Also, out of the 111 participants, only 16 (14.4%) had crash helmets for their passengers and only 1(6.2%) regularly made the helmets available for his passengers. Again, 78 participants had attended lectures on road safety but as noted above only 30 respondents regularly wore their crash helmets. The level of education of the respondents was not found to have any association with the use of crash helmets in this study. There is an urgent need to educate the public and enforce the law of universal helmet use so that all motorcyclists and passengers are protected from possible head injuries should they be involved in crashes.