Alcohol use and compliance with road safety rules among commercial motorcyclists in Southwest Nigeria

Alcohol has been identified as one of the major causes of traffic accident as those driving under the influence of alcohol barely comply with road safety rules and regulations. This study investigated the influence of alcohol use on compliance with road safety rules among commercial motorcyclists in Southwest Nigeria. Cross sectional descriptive research of the survey type was used to conduct the study. The sample size comprised 660 registered commercial motorcyclists selected through multi stage sampling techniques. A self-developed and validated questionnaire was used to elicit information from the respondents. The reliability of the instrument was determined through Cronbach’s alpha with a reliability coefficient of 0.82. The data analysis was done using SPSS software version 19.0. The research questions were answered using descriptive analysis and correlation matrix was used to determine the association between alcohol use and factors influencing alcohol use at 0.05 level of significance. Findings showed that majority of the motorcyclists 236 (39.4%) were regular users of alcohol and a significant negative correlation (r = -0.174, p<0.05) was found between alcohol use and compliance with road safety rules and regulations. It was recommended that government under the auspices of Federal Road Safety Corps should organize sensitization through on dangers of alcohol use on safe driving to commercial drivers through motorcycle parks rallies, workshops and regular health talks. Key words: Alcohol, commercial, motorcyclists, rules, compliance.