Improving Road Safety
in the OIC Member States
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estimated 35,641 road traffic fatalities for 2013, given the population this is equivalent to a
mortality rate of 20,5 road fatalities per 100,000 people (World Health Organisation, 2015b).
In 2013 Nigeria had about 5,791,446 registered vehicles. Of the motorized vehicles about 56
percent are cars and 4-wheeled light vehicles and 44 percent are motorised 2 and 3-wheelers.
The number of buses and HGVwere not reported in theWHO report (World Health Organisation,
2015b).
The World Health Organization report of 2015 estimated that road crashes cost the country an
equivalent of 3% of its GDP. The WHO data also show that there appears to be an increase in
reported road traffic deaths. This trendmight be explained due to a better road fatality reporting
system, an increase in the total amount of traffic deaths or both. It is important to notice that
there is no data available for deaths by road user category.
Pillar 1: Road safety management
Nigeria plans to reduce traffic fatalities irrespective of projected increases in traffic
volume(Federal Road Safety Corps, 2014) . The World Bank will assist Nigeria in providing
manpower and operational equipment to conduct a road safety assessment on six major
corridors. The results of the assessment have led to the establishment of sixteen additional
Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Command Units but, most significantly, to a consistent
decline, between 2011 and 2013, in road fatalities despite increased motorisation on the
corridors, as detailed in the table below:
A five-year action program, the Nigeria Road Safety Strategy (NRSS), was established. This
strategy will focus on decreasing the current road traffic crash fatality by 50% in 2016. To
achieve this goal the following strategies have been formulated (Sumaila, 2013):
 To establish a cohesive and efficient road safety system.
 To provide road infrastructure that accommodates the needs of all road users.
 To ensure all vehicles on Nigerian roads meet defined standards.
 To instill a culture of personal responsibility for safe road use.
 To deliver prompt and effective response to road crashes.
One of the most important stakeholder organisation is the Arrive Alive Road Safety Initiative.
The goal of this initiative is the prevention of the high rates of motor vehicle crashes and
fatalities in Nigeria. The intervention plan was developed based on education/awareness, safety
enforcement, advocacy/legislation and road improvement. The initiative is mainly active in the
more populated parts of the country and focuses on driving under the influence, motorcycle
safety, speeding, child passenger safety, pedestrian safety, truck safety and distractive driving.
The main problems for law enforcement in Nigeria are the numerous individual operators (e.g.
organized transport, private companies, federal and local government institutions), ambiguous
laws and lack of transparency in the administration of penalties. Another major problem in
Nigeria is that financial penalties are often inadequate deterrents.