Assessing the prevailing driver seatbelt compliance at Madina Zongo junction in Accra, Ghana: An observational study

Abstract

Objective

This study aimed to examine the prevailing driver seatbelt compliance at the Madina Zongo junction in Accra, Ghana.

Methods

An unobtrusive observational survey was conducted from 6 to 8 am and 5 to 7 pm on weekdays at randomly designated locations near the junction. A total of 3,054 vehicles were observed throughout the observation period. The data collected were analyzed with SPSS version 26. Cross-tabulations and Pearson’s Chi-square test were employed for thorough analysis.

Results

The study revealed an overall seatbelt compliance rate of slightly over half (54.1%) among drivers, with the following breakdowns in various vehicle categories: large buses (76.2%), medium buses (98.1%), minibuses (44.0%), private cars (70.5%), taxi/uber (53.0%), and trucks (41.1%). Notably, seatbelt compliance was higher among females at 98.4%, compared to males at 49.2%. The study also identified a correlation between driver’s gender and vehicle type with seatbelt compliance. Conversely, no significant association was found between seatbelt compliance and either the time of day or day of the week.

Conclusions

The study offers significant findings regarding seatbelt usage trends at the Madina Zongo junction in Accra. These insights provide a basis for recommending targeted interventions such as policy decisions, public health campaigns, communication strategies, better enforcement, and road safety training programs. These interventions aim to raise awareness of unsafe attitudes and behaviors among drivers to improve seatbelt compliance and ultimately enhance road safety for all road users.

Keywords:

• Drivers
• Ghana
• observations
• seatbelt compliance
• road safety

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the research assistants for carrying out the data collection. The authors also appreciate the comments and suggestions of the Journal’s editorial team and anonymous reviewers.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data will be availed on request from the corresponding author.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.