Background: Globally, deaths and injuries from road crashes are a major and growing public health problem. More than 20 million people are severely injured or killed on the world's road each year and the burden falls most heavily on low income countries. Commercial motorcycling is gaining acceptance by all, as the transport system possesses several features which are adapted to the contemporary Nigerian society. However, many of the commercial motorcycle riders lack proper knowledge on road safety measures as such together with the passengers they carry are exposed to all the hazards of motorcycling including accidents.
Aim: To assess the knowledge, attitude and compliance with safety protective devices among commercial motorcyclists in Tudun-Wada Zaria local Government area of Kaduna state North-western Nigeria.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among 250 commercial motorcyclists who were randomly selected using multistage sampling technique in Tudun-Wada ward of Zaria local Government Area of Kaduna state. A pre-tested structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used as the tool for data collection. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 19.0 and Epi-info 6.0.
Results: All the 250 respondents were males; with majority (72.4%) of them within the age range 20-29 years. Thirty percent of the respondents had no formal education and 28.8% of them are not registered with appropriate authorities. Majority of the respondents (75.6%) did not receive any formal training before commencement of the business. Also, 89.2% have poor knowledge on safety protective devices, while 95.2% have a poor attitude. In terms of compliance with safety protective devices, 86.4% of the respondents have poor compliance. None of the respondents had helmet worn during the survey period. Seventy six percent (76.4%) of the respondents have been involved in accident and 68.6% of which occurred 6 months preceding the study with lower limb most affected (accounting for 44.5%).
Conclusion: Commercial motorcycling is essentially done by males who have not received any formal training for the job; hence, they lack adequate basic knowledge on safety protective devices and as such their attitude and compliance with safety protective device is poor. The predominant type of injury they sustained was that of the lower limb, and a significant proportion of them sustained multiple injuries. There is a statistically significant relationship between the educational status of the respondents and their attitude towards use of safety protective devices. Therefore, ensuring formal training, vigorous enlightenment campaigns and enforcement on the use of safety protective devices by the relevant key authorities is necessary in order to reduce the high prevalence of accidents and injuries among commercial motorcycle riders.