Road safety and mobile phone use among commercial drivers at Kejetia lorry Station in the Kumasi Metropolitan Area, Ghana

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Date
June, 2016
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Despite the numerous social benefits of the mobile phone, using it while driving is highly distracting and increases the risk of road traffic accidents. There is dearth of information on the mobile phone use whilst driving among commercial drivers in Ghana. Therefore, this study was designed to determine the prevalence of mobile phone use whilst driving, identify factors that influence commercial drivers to use the mobile phone while driving and also ascertain whether there is an association between the occurrence of road accidents whilst driving and using the mobile phone among commercial driver at the Kejetia lorry station in Kumasi, Ghana. It was a cross-sectional study involving 637 members of 10 driver unions at the Kejetia lorry Station. Open and closed-ended questionnaire was used to interview the study participants. Information collected included demographic characteristics, mobile phone usage and ownership, driving history and involvement in road accident whilst driving and using the phone. Data entry into the computer and analysis was done using the SPSS. Mobile phone use whilst driving was very prevalent 358(60.1%) among the commercial drivers, despite the fact that most 611(95.9%) of them we aware of the law banning phone use whilst driving. The use of hands free function of the mobile phone, driving above posted speed limits, awareness on the ban of mobile phone use whilst driving and driving routes within the Ashanti Region were significant predictors of mobile phone use whilst driving. There was no association between the use of mobile phone and the occurrence of Road Traffic Accident. It is clear from the findings that commercial drivers are aware of the law banning the use of mobile phone whilst driving, yet the practice appears difficult to be discontinued. It is recommended that education on road accidents and the use of the mobile phone whilst driving should be intensified with special emphasis on strategies that change human behavior.
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A thesis submitted to the Department of Health Policy, Management, and Economics, School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of Masters of public health in Health Service Planning and Management
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