Empirical Research on Factors Contributing Road Accident Among Bajaj Drivers in Banadir Region, Mogadishu, Somalia

This study was aimed at investigating the effects of driver’s age on road accidents among Moto Bajaj drivers in Mogadishu. The study objectives include; identifying the proportion of driver exceeding the urban driving limit, determining the relationship between driver age and accidents, determining the relationship between speed of driving and road accident, and determining the proportion of drivers who meets the legal requirements for driving. Structured questionnaires were administered to Bajaj drivers and collected 385 records from the source population of Bajaj drivers. It was conducted through a field survey of 385 Bajaj drivers in the Banadir region. The source of the population was unknown to determine the sample size, Cochrane (1977) formula was used for larger sample size determination to calculate the ideal sample size. This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted from Jan to May 2022. The topic was the effects of Moto Bajaj driver’s age on road accidents in Mogadishu, Somalia. The study found that preferred driving speed; drivers who prefer to drive between 30 - 49 Km per hour accounted for 47%, drivers who preferred to drive 50 - 69 Km per hour accounted for 52%, and those who prefer to drive >70 Km per hour accounted 1%. This indicates that 53% of the Baja drivers are the potential to drive at higher speeds. The study revealed the odds for driver’s preferred speed of 50-69 km/hr were 19.116 times more likely to have an accident comparing those driving at low speed. And drivers preferring a speed of 70 km/hr are 18 times more likely to have an accident compared to others. The model correctly predicted 86.2% of cases where there was no accident and 85.9% of cases where there was an accident giving an overall percentage correct prediction rate of 86. The study recommends and provides advocacy to all concerned bodies, including the government institutions, organizations, private institutions, and decisions maker, to impose and actively engage the road safety policy and procedures, including driving age and speed limiting on certain roads in Banadir Region.