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Abstract
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OBJECTIVE: Car telephone use has increased against the background of rapid escalation in general mobile phone services and use. The study was designed to determine the relationship between the use of mobile phone while driving and the incidence of road traffic accident amongst motorists in Zaria.
METHOD: The study was carried out using cross-sectional descriptive survey design. Aself-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. The population of this study comprises of motorists from the three major parks in Zaria making a total of 544 motorists out of which 225 respondents were sampled using stratified random sampling method for the study.
RESULTS: More than three quarters (87%) of the respondents use their mobile phones while driving. Majority (70%) of the respondents are aware of the possible hazards or risk associated with using mobile phones while driving. 72% of the motorists are unwilling to stop answering calls or use their mobile phones for the purpose of text messages while driving.
CONCLUSION: Laws should be implemented to ban drivers from using hand held mobile phones while driving and fines should be imposed on violators of the law. Increasing awareness on the hazards of mobile phone use while driving should be created especially in the media.
Keywords: Motorist, driving, mobile phones
Language: en |