Spatial Analysis of Road Traffic Crashes in Oyo State of Nigeria

Road Traffic Crashes (RTC) are a global concern because of the frequencies of deaths, injuries and material losses experienced by countries as a result of the menace. The significance of the effect of RTC to individuals, societies and nations at large call for investigation into the pattern of the menace across neighbourhoods. This paper examined the characteristics, spatial pattern and concentrations of RTC in Nigeria, Oyo state and across Local Government Areas (LGA). Data on RTC were obtained from Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC). The longitudes and latitudes of RTC locations were collected based on landmarks provided by FRSC. RTC cases were found to pose a greater risk of deaths than most of the diseases that is the focus of individuals, government, nongovernmental organizations and international bodies in Nigeria. The analysis showed that there was less than 1% likelihood that the observed clustering pattern in RTC could be a result of random chance. The Unique RTC center was found to be Akinyele LGA. The standard deviational ellipse was found to be a more elegant measure of spatial concentration than the standard distance deviation. The black spots include Oyo West, Oyo East, Afijio, Akinyele, Lagelu, Egbeda, Ona Ara, Oluyole, Ido, Ibadan North, Ibadan North East, Ibadan North West, Ibadan South East and Ibadan South West LGA. The results should enable the orientation of safety and injury prevention policies targeted towards reducing the frequency of RTC and deaths of young adults in the state.