More than half of Nigerian drivers admit that they sometimes swear at other drivers and make phone calls on the way, according to a survey on various Nigerian cities. The champions of insults at the wheel are the Lagos drivers, while the FCT drivers are the most courteous.
74% of drivers in Nigeria insult others while driving, note according to 6703 drivers in the 36 states in Nigeria, on the survey conducted by Afrinik.
Aggressiveness at the wheel
21% of Nigerian drivers questioned admit that they are no longer the same person when they are in their vehicle: they consider themselves more nervous, impulsive, or aggressive than in everyday life.
More than half of those surveyed (67%) honk their horns inopportunely, (33%) deliberately stick the vehicle of a driver who annoys them, and 19% of drivers do not even hesitate to get out of their vehicle to explain themselves, according to the study. A reason why an overwhelming majority of Nigerian drivers (88%) are afraid of the aggressive behavior of other drivers.
Regional differences
According to the survey, the cities of Ajegunle, Amukoko, Badia, Bariga, Bodija, Ilaje, Iwaya, Makoko, Mushin can be considered the champion of insults at the wheel: 70% of drivers in this region admit to insulting other users on the route.
Aba, Obigbo, Warri, Akure, Ilorin, Gwale, Nassarawa, Kaduna North, Esan, as well as Kogi, Onitsha follow the Lagos closely: 68% of drivers insult others.
Conversely, drivers in Sokoto, Ekiti, Cross River, Enugu, and Plateau are the most moderate on these insults at 55%.
In regions where the traffic is more important, where the roads are busier, and mostly where there are bad roads, there is more anxiety, more aggressiveness at the wheel. We can see this in particular in the Lagos state and the Warri Delta state. In less urban regions, like Taraba, Yobe, and Adamawa, we have more peaceful behavior.
Driving distractions
Another important part of the investigation is looking at the dangers of inattention. More than half of drivers (62%) say they make a phone call while driving; 90% of them don’t use Bluetooth, earphones, or any handsfree or earsets. The exemplary region in this sense is Lagos (44%) and Abuja (42%)
A nap and respect for the rules
When it comes to practices to prevent drowsiness, more than half of drivers (78%) nationwide report stopping during the trip to take a nap. In Ore, Kogi, Benin, Asaba, and in Abuja, Calabar, Onitsha, Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, this practice is most widespread (64%).
At the same time, 79% of Nigerian drivers admit not always respecting the Highway Code rules.
Whether it is the Highway Code or health instructions, the rule is more often perceived as a constraint than protection. However, the vast majority of accidents are the result of an inadequate appreciation of the risk associated with violations of the Highway Code. However, most of the drivers attributed road accidents to bad or poor road networks.
