Nigeria: Commercial motorcycle operators and passengers often injured

In Benin City, as in many cities in Nigeria, commercial motorcycle operators provide a valuable transportation service for many citizens. But, as Nzegwu and his colleagues at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital have shown, the risks of morbidity and mortality for both the operators and the passengers appear to be great.

In a case series of 51 injured commercial motorcycle riders seen in two hospitals during a one-year period, 17 were fatally injured. Half of these fatally injured riders had high alcohol levels. Most of the riders were injured when they were stuck by a car, bus, or truck. Only 2 riders were injured when they fell from their motorcycles – and the study authors attributed the cause of their falls to epilepsy. More than twice as many males were injured as females (37 vs. 15).

The most common diagnosis of fatal injury was intracranial hemmorage. Not surprising,  none of the riders – either operators or passengers – were wearing helmets.

Comment: Although this paper does not include a discussion session, the authors imply that although commercial motorcycles are providing an important transportation function, they are unregulated. Operators are untrained and they drive with little respect for traffic laws or norms. They operate their motorcycles with little regard to safety for themselves or their passengers. 

Nzegwu MA, Aligbe JU, Banjo AA, et al. Patterns of morbidity and mortality amongst motorcycle riders and their passengers in Benin-City, Nigeria: one-year review. Ann Afr Med 2008;7(2):82-5.

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