Geographical Analysis and Mapping of Road Traffic Accident Occurrence and Severity in Nigeria

The advantage of automobile transportation does not overcome its shortcomings. Foremost among these is road traffic accident which is serious cause of death in the whole world today. This study examined and mapped rate of reported cases of road accidents across the 36 States and the federal capital of Nigeria between 2013 and 2015. Data acquired from Federal Bureau of Statistics was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods. Bar charts, graphs, dot map and thematic map were prepared to depict the spatial distribution of the occurrences and fatality classification while regression analysis was used to predict the future situation of road accident in Nigeria. Results showed that; highest rate of accidents 36.9% occurred in the year 2013 with 5,539 deaths. Ogun State recorded highest number of accidents with 9.7% in 2013, Lagos State with 15.4% in 2014 and Ogun State with 6.1% in 2015 which can be attributed to the strategic position of these two States as the gate ways to Nigeria economy. The regression result shows the strong positive relationship between numbers of recorded cases of road accident and death from road traffic accident with regression R value of 0.78 and R2 of 0.61 respectively.