Car drivers’ attitudes towards motorcyclists in a semi-urban community of southwestern Nigeria

More than 20 million people are severely injured or killed on the world’s roads each year and the burden falls most heavily on low income countries. The mortality from Road traffic injury in sub-Saharan Africa is among the highest in the world. Motorcycle crashes accounts for 54% of all road traffic injuries. The main type of conflict in which a motorcyclist is injured or killed is a collision between a motorcycle and a car. Research suggests that attitude of drivers towards motorcyclists may be important in how such interactions are treated on the road and hence has implications for road user safety. To assess car drivers’ attitudes towards motorcyclists, a survey was undertaken in a semi urban area of south western Nigeria. Respondents filled in 26 general and motorcycle-related items. Four factors were extracted from the motorcycle items: negative attitudes, empathic attitudes, and awareness of perceptual problems and spatial understanding. Most of the respondents were dual driver/rider and they showed more of positive attitudes towards the motorcyclists. Further studies are suggested to know if the predominant attitude in this study is the actual behaviour of the drivers on the road.