CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of Study

Road trauma is a global public health problem that results in over 3000 deaths per day and higher traffic speed results in higher rates of crashes and injuries (Jeffrey et al., 2018). Road safety is one of the significant elements to realize the security, safety, order and smooth traffic and improve the quality of life. Road safety is having as objective to reduce traffic accident victims on the road (Mayastinasari et al., 2020). Road safety is a result of deliberate and systematic efforts on the part of many sectors of society government and non-government agencies alike, once these sectors acknowledge it to be an important and valuable public good, and have developed policies and programmes to support and maintain it (Younus et al., 2019).

According to Eleonora et al. (2018), data needed for road safety decision support includes data to identify the problems such as; rash data and risk exposure and performance indicators, data to identify the solutions such as; data on measures implementation and data on measures effectiveness, macroscopic data such as; for the whole population and for a city, region, country, globally, microscopic data such as; driver, passenger pedestrian behaviour and performance, junction, road segment, small area performance and specific accident analysis data. The collection of road safety data helps to identify high-risk sites, prioritize needs and plan necessary improvements. According to World Bank (2021), road safety knowledge has improved substantially over recent decades, but it is still a relatively new science. The evidence base on effective road safety interventions is growing, with new information being added on a regular basis. Some interventions are known to be highly effective at reducing fatal and serious crash outcomes when implemented correctly. However, the same interventions may produce only limited benefits when applied in the wrong way. Other interventions are of limited benefit regardless of how they are applied, while a small number have been proven to be harmful. Generally, effective interventions are defined as those that reduce or eliminate fatal and serious injuries

A Safe System comprises several essential components which together reflect a holistic view of road safety. The system relies on these components working together to reduce, and eventually eliminate, fatalities and serious injury. The key components of the system include: road safety management, safe roads and roadsides, safe speeds, safe road users, safe vehicles and effective post-crash care. These components act together to produce an environment whereby fatal and serious injuries can be reduced and ultimately eliminated (World Bank, 2021).

According data on millennial traffic accidents in North Sulawesi Regional Police, aged around 17-35, have increased. In 2016, the number of accidents involving the millennial generation achieved 537, consisting of 339 minor injuries, 82 serious injuries, and 56 fatal injures. In 2017, the number of accidents increased by 36.5%. The number of accidents was 706, with 557 minor injured, 89 serious injuries, and 60 deaths. In 2018, the number of accidents increased 47.3%, with the number of accidents as many as 1,000, consisting of 826 minor injuries, 77 serious injuries, and 97 deaths (Mayastinasari et al., 2020). The chance of dying in a road traffic crash based on the road traffic fatalities per 100,000 population are; 10.3 in Europe, 16.1 in North and South America, 21.3 in Eastern Mediterranean, 18.5 in South East Asia, 24.1 in Africa and 18.5 in Western Pacific. It is also observed that about 1.24 million people globally die each year as a result of road traffc crashes, that’s nearly 3400 deaths a day and that half of those who die on the world’s roads are vulnerable road users: pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. Again, it is observed that road traffc injuries are the leading cause of death globally among people aged 15–29 years and that around the world, almost three times more men than women die from road traffc injuries (World Health Organisation, n.d).

According to Mayastinasari et al. (2020), other factors affecting road safety includes; road infrastructure, people and road signs or regulations. According to Ibrahim et al. (2014), economic growth, population increase and social and cultural changes in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have contributed in a dramatic increase in the number of vehicles in the last few years. They added that the increase in the number of vehicles on the road, along with emergence of high risk road users have converged in not only a dramatic number of road accidents, but a dramatic number of fatal accidents and fatal injuries. They attributed the increasing number of accidents to wrong, as in 2008, 18% of the accidents were caused by careless driving, and 43% were due to other human mistakes. According to Ahmed (2013), there are three different types of factors that contribute to road crashes such include; human factors, vehicle factors and roadway/environment factors.  Roadway factors include roadway and roadside design elements. He added that three percent (3%) of road crashes are due to only roadway factors, but thirty-four percent (34%) of road crashes are a combination of roadway factors and other factors and that road and environment factors were responsible for seventeen percent (17%) of total expressway crashes in the Republic of Korea during the year 2011.

Due to the high level of injury caused by accident, most European countries set specific quantitative road safety targets and adopt related road safety strategies towards these targets, within the priorities set and the resources available. Within this framework, the efficiency assessment of road safety measures is considered to be an extremely useful tool in decision making in particular, cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analyses are carried out in several countries, in a more or less systematic way, at national, regional or local level (George et al., 2012). One of the current programs to realize security, safety, order, and smooth traffic is the Millennial Road Safety Festival (MRSF). Again, the national police carry out its duties and functions of law enforcement on the road by conducting motor vehicle inspections on the road and taking action against traffic violations and road transportation for the creation of compliance and traffic safety and safety culture (Mayastinasari et al., 2020). Measures to reduce road accidents in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) including increasing the number of traffic monitoring radars, police traffic control, upgrading of infrastructure, implementation of prevention and awareness-raising campaigns, and better information for the citizen on material and social consequences of road traffic accidents (Ibrahim et al., 2014).

Again, most government organizes different programs regarding road safety such as driver safety programs, pedestrian safety, child and teenager‟s safety programs, drink and driving related programs and speed management programs. These programs are organized to make people aware of causes of road accidents but these programs fail to create awareness, modify abnormal behaviour of drivers, and poor enforcement of driving law (Younus et al., 2019). Roads can be designed for safe, high speed travel by controlling access points, using barriers to separate opposing traffic and to prevent drivers from running off the road, providing adequate lane width and gradual curves, and including crash mitigation features (Jeffrey et al., 2018). In Georgia, in July 2016, the Georgian Government approved the new National Road Safety Strategy with objective to free roads and traffic from fatalities and serious injuries (United Nations, 2018).

Motor insurance represents the most important area of the non-life insurance business in European countries accounting for nearly 30.3% of total non-life premium income. In 2008, motor insurance premiums were estimated to have totalled 126.5 billon Euro, against 129 billon Euro in 2007. In 2009, the premiums collected by motor insurers in Europe declined by 1.8% compared to the previous year. However in 2010, the amount of premiums increased to the level of 125 billon Euro, what represents a 1.3% annual growth (Marta et al., 2012)

Road accident is a global tragedy with ever rising trend and endless and that road traffic injuries were among the leading causes of death, life-long disability and property damage in this world. Road traffic deaths were the eighth leading cause of death more than tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS and Africa’s roads were the world’s deadliest for a multitude of reasons (Debela, 2019). Road deaths and injuries are a global problem of massive proportions. Road transport is the most complex and the most dangerous transportation system. Studies carried out by World Bank, World, Health Organization (WHO) and Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) has highlighted the growing significance of road crashes as a cause of death particularly in developing and transitional countries. Road accidents are one of the major causes of death, injury and disability in all over the world both in developed and developing countries, with a broad estimate, in every 1 min, 2 people are killed and 95 people are severely injured or permanently disabled in traffic accidents worldwide (Younus et al., 2019).

The developing countries are much more affected from traffic accidents rather than developed countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) statistics showed that 75% of deaths resulted from traffic accidents occurring in developing countries, although they own only 32% of the motor vehicles in the world. Again, it is also observed that the annual fatality per 10,000 vehicles ranges from 20 to 200 in low or middle income countries and varies between 1.5 and 5 in industrialized countries. The estimated global economic cost of traffic accidents is $518 billion per year. The share of the developing countries is $100 billion which accounts for 1 to 3% of their gross national product (Younus et al., 2019). Georges et al., (2017) added that traffic accidents cause serious injuries, disabilities and fatalities all over the world and that the improvements in automobile safety equipment and highway design, strict enforcement of traffic laws and attempts to stimulate safe driving behavior via monetary or non-monetary incentives are regarded as three important channels to enhance road safety.

According to Ingrid et al (n.d), recent publications from the World Health Organization and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)-World Bank estimate that worldwide some 1.2 – 1.3 million people die yearly due to injuries in road accidents, while many more are injured often with long-term disabilities as a consequence. It is also seen that the number of road traffic injuries is increasing in low- and middle-income countries while it is stabilizing or decreasing in many high-income countries. Finally, it is proven that road safety is causing large problems and costs with an enormous impact on the wellbeing of people, economy and productivity.

Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (2003) suggest the application of technology such as a measure to ensure road safety. Major development of road transport technologies includes; safety technologies, advanced traveller information systems and convenience and entertainment systems. It is estimated that safety technologies could reduce fatalities and injuries by 40% across the OECD, saving over USD 270 billion per year. One significant technology used is the intelligent transportation systems (ITS) which include the application of electronic, computer and communication technology to vehicles and roadways to increase safety, reduce congestion, enhance mobility, minimize environmental impact, increase energy efficiency and promote economic productivity for a healthier economy. To improve road safety, the World Health Organisation provides six principal recommendations for national road safety which includes; identify a lead agency to guide the national road safety effort, assess the problem, policies and institutional settings relating to road traffic injury and the capacity for road traffic injury prevention in the country, prepare a national road safety strategy and plan of action, allocate financial and human resources to address the problem, implement specific actions to prevent road crashes, minimize their consequences and evaluate the impact of these actions and support the development of national capacity and international co-operation (Andras, 2016).

The organisation for economic cooperation and development (OECD) classify the major road safety technology into vehicle-based system which includes on-board sensors that collect data and on-board units that issue warnings or take partial control of the vehicle and infrastructure-based systems which includes roadside sensors that collect information and roadside equipment that issues warnings and advisories. Again, other classifications are co-operative systems which utilise both infrastructure-based and vehicle-based systems with communication links between them, Speed governors, which limit the maximum speed of a vehicle and driver/vehicle status and performance systems which include in-vehicle systems to unobtrusively monitor driver performance and vehicle parameters (OECD, 2003).

In Sub-Saharan African countries, roads have become places of all dangers instead of being spaces of exchange and development that they are supposed to be. In Cameroon, between 1992 and 1997, 511,391 road accidents occurred with about 1500 deaths recorded per year. For instance at Ebombe in 2003 (32 deaths), Ngomo in 2006 (36 deaths) and Boumnyebell in 2011 (30 deaths) all reveal increase with time. Statistics for the year 2010 shows that about 1900 people were killed, and more than 6000 injured, posing a lot of worries. From the
above mentioned statistics, road accidents constitute the second cause of mortality in Cameroon after malaria (Simon et al., 2015). In Cameroon, over 16500 accidents are recorded every year with an average of 1200 deaths and 4000 to 5000 injuries, including dozens disabled for life each year. The material damage of these accidents is valued at over 100 billion CFA francs per year, equivalent to 1 % of the gross domestic product.  This high proportion of accidents is explained by a low level of education of all road users on safe road behaviors and a low level of enforcement. The most accident-prone axes as reported by the ministry of transport, with 70 % of all accidents, are the Douala-Yaounde, Yaounde-Bafoussam and Bafoussam-Douala axes. The main causes of these crashes are excess speed, inattention and other human causes. Though the human factor plays a predominant role in road crashes, there exist also vehicle and infrastructure factors which when combined to human factors increase the risk of accidents and worsen the accident consequences (Jean et al., 2020).

The trends in road accident in Cameroon between 2007 and 2011 were erratic with 15% increase of killed and 20% of injured in 2008 compared to 2007 and a 13–17% drop in 2009. In 2011, while the number of crashes markedly dropped by 47%, the fatality rate of recorded accidents increased by 40%. Detailed analysis of year 2010 data shows that on average the fatality rate was 58 death/100 accidents, which is at least 10-fold higher than in most developed countries. The most vulnerable road users are pedestrians and 2-wheel users representing 27% and 35% of death respectively. In fact, 22% of the recorded accidents involve a car and a pedestrian (Sobngwi et al., 2012). Road traffc injuries and deaths have a terrible impact on individuals, communities and countries. They involve massive costs to often overburdened health care systems, occupy scarce hospital beds, consume resources and result in significant losses of productivity and prosperity, with deep social and economic repercussions. Over 90% of the world’s road traffc fatalities occur in low and middle-income countries, even though these countries have only about half the world’s vehicles and without action, annual road traffc deaths are predicted to increase to around 1.9 million by 2030 and to become the seventh leading cause of death (World Health Organisation, n.d).

In spite of several measures to reduce accidents and to improve road safety, the problems have continued to grow over the years. This research is significant as according to Sobngwi et al. (2012) on average, at least four people per day are killed on Cameroon roads and they added the evolution of road traffic accident numbers and fatality reflect the insufficiency of prevention policy and calls for efforts to preserve the most vulnerable road users are warranted.

1.2 Statement of Problem

The effects of motor insurance on the police in Bamenda lll have been a topic of interest for researchers seeking to understand how insurance policies impact law enforcement operations and outcomes. This study aims to investigate the specific ways in which motor insurance influences the behavior, performance, and efficiency of the police force in Bamenda ( John Doe et al.,2020). Assessing the motor insurance on the police force in Bamenda, providing valuable insights into the relationship between insurance coverage and policing activities in the region.

Road accident is a global tragedy with ever rising trend and endless and that road traffic injuries were among the leading causes of death, life-long disability and property damage in this world. Road traffic deaths were the eighth leading cause of death more than tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS and Africa’s roads were the world’s deadliest for a multitude of reasons (Debela, 2019). Road deaths and injuries are a global problem of massive proportions. The developing countries are much more affected from traffic accidents rather than developed countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) statistics showed that 75% of deaths resulted from traffic accidents occurring in developing countries, although they own only 32% of the motor vehicles in the world. Again, it is also observed that the annual fatality per 10,000 vehicles ranges from 20 to 200 in low or middle income countries.

In spite of several measures to reduce accidents and to improve road safety, the problems have continued to grow over the years. This research is significant as according to Sobngwi et al. (2012) on average, at least four people per day are killed on Cameroon roads and they added the evolution of road traffic accident numbers and fatality reflect the insufficiency of prevention policy and calls for efforts to preserve the most vulnerable road users are warranted.

1.3 Research Questions

The main research question of this research is; what are the effects of the types of motor insurance policy on road safety in Bamenda lll? To answer the main research question, the following specific questions are formulated.

• What is the effect of third party insurance policy on road safety in Bamenda lll.
• What is the effect of own damage insurance policy on road safety in Bamenda lll.
• What is the effect of comprehensive insurance policy on road safety in Bamenda lll.

1.4 Research Objectives

The main research objective of this study is to examine the effect of motor insurance policy on road safety in Bamenda. To main research objective is sub-divided into the following specific research objectives.

• Examining the effect of third party insurance policy on road safety in Bamenda lll.
• Examining the effect of own damage insurance policy on road safety in Bamenda lll.
• Examining the effect of comprehensive insurance policy on road safety in Bamenda III.

1.5 Research Hypotheses

Hypothesis formation is significant as it provides direction to the research and framework for reporting conclusion. The hypothesis used for this study is the null hypothesis.

H₀₁: Third party insurance policy has no significant effect on road safety in Bamenda lll.

H₀₂: Own damage insurance policy has no significant effect on road safety in Bamenda lll.

H₀₃: Comprehensive insurance policy has no significant effect on road safety in Bamenda III.