Back to: Jss1 Civic Education (NVE)

Road Accidents

Road accidents refer to incidents that occur on the roadways involving motorized vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, or other road users. These accidents can result in property damage, injuries, or fatalities.

Causes of Road Accidents

1. Distracted Driving

Not a drunk driver, a speeding automobile, or a driver who ran a red light are the leading causes of car accidents. Today, the leading factor in auto accidents in Nigeria is distracted driving. A distracted driver is a motorist who takes their eyes off the road, often using a mobile phone, sending a text, or eating.

2. Speeding

Many motorists exceed the posted speed limit by 10, 20, and sometimes 30 mph. Speed kills, and exceeding the speed limit makes it simple to get into a vehicle accident. Your response time will be slower if you need to avoid an accident the quicker you drive.

3. Drunk Driving

Drinking impairs your capacity to concentrate and perform normally, which makes driving a car exceedingly risky. Even though it is one of the leading factors that may be prevented, drunk driving causes automobile accidents every day. If you go out and drink, always assign another driver to drive

4. Reckless Driving

You run the risk of getting into a pointless vehicle accident if you don’t drive attentively. That’s what often occurs to negligent drivers who speed, change lanes abruptly, or tailgate before getting into a collision. Often impatient in traffic, reckless drivers should be avoided at all costs, therefore use additional caution around them.

5. Rain

The roads will deteriorate if the weather does. Rain provides slippery, hazardous roads for cars, trucks, and motorbikes and often causes vehicles to spin out of control or skid when braking, which increases the likelihood of car accidents. When it rains, drive more cautiously to prevent automobile accidents.

6. Disobeying Red Lights

Red signals stop while you’re driving, and failing to do so often results in collisions. Drivers who often cause side-impact incidents at high speeds when they run red lights incur the danger of committing wrongful death. As you approach a green light, keep an eye out for approaching vehicles to prevent an accident.

7. Disobeying Stop Signs

Stop signs must never be disregarded, yet when they are, tragic auto accidents often occur. Each year, one vehicle running a stop sign causes hundreds of auto accidents. Running stop signs by cars is a common cause of rollover and side-impact collisions. When moving through a stop sign, you should always keep all sides of the road in mind.

8. Teenage Drive

The young tend to squander their youth, but young drivers never spend their time being cautious behind the wheel. Teenagers unfortunately don’t have a good reputation for being cautious. Teen drivers often lack experience on the road, and this lack of knowledge leads to automobile accidents.

9. Driving at night

Even during the day, driving may be risky, but at night, the likelihood of a vehicle accident almost doubles. You can’t know what to expect when you approach something when you can’t see it up ahead. Your awareness of the road and the vehicles around must increase when the sun sets.

10. Design Defects

Cars are no exception to the rule that no thing is ever built properly. A major auto accident may be brought on by any of the hundreds of faulty pieces that make up an automobile. In the past, a lot of manufacturers have had issues with design flaws, such as Ford Explorer rollover accidents and Toyota’s unexpected acceleration disasters.

11. Dangerous lane changes

There will always be a point when you have to switch lanes (i.e. exit from a freeway, get in the correct lane to make a turn, etc.). Car accidents often result from improper lane changes by drivers. Use your turn signal, check your blind areas, and move into the next lane slowly at all times to avoid an unnecessary automobile collision.

12. Driving the wrong way

Everyone has moments of poor judgement, but while operating a motor vehicle, those foggy impulses may be fatal. It is possible to turn down a street under the impression that it is a typical right turn when, in fact, it is a one-way street going the other way. Everyone is at risk when you turn in the incorrect direction since you’ll likely cause a collision.

13. Incorrect Turns

We have stop signs, turn signals, and lanes for turning right or left rather than straight because automobile accidents often occur when drivers disregard the regulations of the road. Always check for signs and follow the correct right-of-way before making a turn to avoid getting into a vehicle accident.

14. Tailgating

Many motorists are impatient and careless, cutting other vehicles off so closely that they are unable to stop in time if the vehicle in front of them stops abruptly. Injurious tailgating at high speeds has been the cause of several deadly vehicle accidents. Giving the vehicle in front of you a one-car-length space for every 10 mph you go can help you avoid these collisions.

15. Driving Under the Influence of Drugs

When drivers are involved, other substances than alcohol might be hazardous on the road. Both legal and illicit drugs might make it difficult for you to operate a vehicle safely. Getting behind the wheel might result in major vehicle accidents if your head is foggy and you have no control over your body.

16. Road rage

For one reason or another, everyone has felt angry against another driver, but some motorists allow their fury to consume them. These “road ragers” result in several avoidable automobile accidents every year by either driving past another motorist while tailgating them or by tailgating someone while speeding past them before braking.

17. Potholes

When they drive over potholes, motorists face the danger of losing control of their vehicle or exploding a tyre. Make sure your tyres don’t pass over a pothole if you detect one in your path as you drive to prevent an accident.

18. Sleepy Driving

Not much is spoken about driver drowsiness, yet it is unrealistic to expect someone to drive safely if they are having difficulties keeping awake. The majority of sleepy driving-related automobile accidents happen at night. If you feel yourself wanting to doze off while driving, stop when it’s safe to do so and attempt a fast 30-minute power nap.

19. Tire Blowouts 

The majority of roadways are covered with the dispersed wreckage left by a tyre blowout. Tire blowouts are particularly hazardous for larger vehicles like semi-trucks since they may cause you to lose control of your car. You may probably prevent a major automobile accident when you strive to keep control of your car and pull over safely when a tyre blows out.

20. Fog 

Fog isn’t the most prevalent kind of weather, which is excellent news for automobile accident statistics. Driving needs the capacity to see, yet fog may make it very difficult to see more than a vehicle length in front of you at times. When driving in the fog, always use your headlights and never your high beams to prevent automobile accidents.

21. Deadly Curves

Everyone should use caution while approaching curves, which some people refer to as dead man’s curves. Along treacherous curves, several drivers have lost control of their vehicles and perished in collisions. To prevent an automobile accident, drive slowly and under the stated speed limit when you approach these signs.

22. Animal Crossings

Wild animals do not attend driving education, even though drivers are expected to be familiar with the laws of the road. Wild creatures will go out onto the roadway, and it is your responsibility to avoid colliding with them with your vehicle. When driving through rural, wooded regions, use your high beams when you notice an animal crossing sign and proceed with care.

23. Street Racing

Street racing is an underground sport involving fast automobiles and fatal car crashes, made popular by the Fast and the Furious film series. During a street race, automobiles often achieve extremely high speeds thanks to turbo engines and nitrous oxide boosters, making any ensuing car crash significantly more perilous and unlikely to result in any survivors.

The roles of drivers in reducing road accidents

1. People should think about other drivers as well as their safety while driving.

2. Parents should instil in their kids a sense of personal accountability for their safety on the road.

3. Individuals may voluntarily sign up with the government to serve as special road marshals, which would help traffic wardens regulate traffic.

4. The majority of traffic offenders feel they are not likely to be caught, therefore the emphasis on using big penalties to discourage reckless driving may not be particularly successful.

5. Peer influence in driving cannot be ignored, hence all types of drivers and vehicle owners must be required to attend frequent refresher courses. The temptation for people who follow the laws of the road to break them and mimic reckless drivers is constant.

6. Given the number of irreplaceable lives and property lost due to driver mistakes and related issues, public and private sector organisations ought to be urged or required to frequently train their personnel.

7. Insurance providers need to provide rewards to people and organisations who paid for their drivers’ retraining programmes, such as discounts on rates. This will promote driver development and training for the nation’s effort to reduce accidents. In nations like the United States, this has proven successful.

8. Governments and non-governmental organisations should pay even greater attention to the battle against road accidents, which is killing more people and doing so more quickly than the fight against HIV/AIDS.

9. When it comes to enforcing traffic rules and regulations, there shouldn’t be any sacred cows or VIPs. Leaders and VIPs are supposed to set a good example, and anything that goes against it should be vigorously challenged.

10. To increase road safety, the attitude (perception) of drivers towards the usage of roads has to be appropriately addressed and reconstructed.