Personality and road accidents among taxi drivers in Kampala district

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to explore the relationship between personality and traffic accidents among taxi drivers and offer suitable preventive measures among public servants in. The study set out different objectives which included assessing the personality of drivers, to assess traffic accidents. To explore the possible solutions to road accidents and examine the relationship between personality and road accidents The proposed study employed a cross-sectional survey design. Correlational in nature the qualitative paradigm to explore and develop an in-depth understanding of the lived world experience of the taxi drivers on the major causes of road traffic accidents. A qualitative questionnaire was also used to measure personality traits. A systematic method for gathering information from the sample was used. The study was based on population of 100taxi drivers and 80 drivers were randomly selected. A standardized questionnaire whose reliability coefficient was above 0.7 was adopted. And the data analysis was done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Then the data was statistically summarized into frequency-percentages tables and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to find the relationship between personality traits, road accidents and the bio data factors. The results of the study finally indicated that road accidents and personality are significantly related. There is a significant positive relationship between personality and road accidents and there is a significant positive relationship between the bio-data factors of age, gender, marital status, length of service and driver training and road accidents. This study concluded that there is a relationship between road accidents, personality and the bio-data factors among the Kampala taxi drivers. The following recommendations were made; the research identified the need for the government to periodically sensitize taxi drivers so as to reduce on the rate of accidents in Kampala. The government should construct more roads so as to reduce traffic congestion in Kampala which causes road accidents. The government should encourage taxi drivers to form associations among themselves so as to manage their taxi business and make it more organized.