KNOWLEDGE OF ROAD SIGNS AND COMPLIANCE OF INTRA-URBAN COMMERCIAL BUS DRIVERS WITH TRAFFIC REGULATIONS IN ILORIN, NIGERIA

Safety of lives and properties is crucial to both drivers and passengers on the road. Despite various efforts by governments at different levels to ensure safety on Nigerian roads, road traffic violations and traffic accidents especially involving commercial vehicle drivers are still very common. This study focused on investigating commercial bus drivers’ compliance with traffic regulations in Ilorin with a view to determining whether there is link between their knowledge of traffic signs and level of compliance. This study employed purposive and simple random sampling techniques to draw a sample of 158 bus drivers used for the study. Descriptive statistics and Chisquare were used to analyse the data. The results reveal that the mean age of the drivers was 44 years, married (69.0%) and majority (67.09%) of the sampled bus drivers does not have valid driver’s license. Result of the Chi-square shows𝛘2calculated (35.1657) >𝛘2 statistics (5.991) at 95% confidence level signifying that knowledge of road signs influence bus drivers’ compliance with traffic regulation as safety measure. Therefore, it is concluded that compliance with traffic rules would enhance safety among commercial bus drivers in the study. This study recommends more stringent measures to ensure that only those who are qualified are licensed to drive on Nigerian roads. There should also be periodic road safety sensitization for commercial drivers by relevant road safety agencies to ensure familiarity with traffic signs and regulations for effective compliance to reduce road crashes.