Geographical information system (GIS)–based analysis of road traffic accidents in Nigeria (1960-2012)

In recent years there has been serious concern on the increasing rate of road traffic accidents in Nigeria. Geographic Information System (GIS), a high performance computer based tool is useful in road traffic management and vehicular movement study. In this work, the GIS software was used to analyze and depicts the trend and characteristics of road traffic accidents in Nigeria. The data used in this study were obtained from Federal Road Safety Commission Dashboard (FRSC Planning Advisory Unit Analysis) for the year 2012 and 2013 and Nigerian Tribune Publication of Tuesday 3rd April , 2012. The data obtained was entered and use to developed road traffic accidents information system (RTAIS). Analysis and capability of the developed system was illustrated and shown graphically. A total of 1,060,507 cases of road traffic crashes occurred between the year 1960 and 2012 of which 170,844 were fatal, 456,055 were serious and 428.790 were minor, claiming 322,427 lives. This study further revealed that Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja ranked first with 6.71% based on road traffic crash fatalities per 100,000 human populations on state by state with Kebbi state being the least (0.25%). The GIS –based analysis shows that category of vehicles involved in road traffic crashes in year 2012 on state basis varies with cars having the highest cases(4,632) followed by buses (2,239), motorcycles (1,807),truck(1,037) and tankers/trailers having the least(641). It is recommended that the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO) and other agencies linked with road traffic management and safety will find this study useful in identifying remedial measures for the improvement of safety on Nigerian roads.Key Words: Road Traffic, Accident, GIS, Vehicles Analysis, Nigeri