Paper Title
A STUDY OF FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE PEDESTRIAN RATE OF ACCIDENTS IN LAGOS-ABEOKUTA EXPRESSWAY, LAGOS, NIGERIA

Abstract
Walking has been the dominant transport mode for many centuries in all countries. Although walking is not usually seen as a transportation mode, every human trip begins or finishes with walking. It remains the cheapest form of transport for all people and the categories of those that make use of their foot as a form of mobility are known as pedestrians. According to Turner (2014), pedestrians are most vulnerable in the road environment because of the greater differences in the speed ratios of pedestrian compare to vehicles. Pedestrian safety is an important problem of global dimensions. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2010) reportdescribes traffic accidents as one of the major causes of death and injuries around the world, accounting for an estimated 1.2 million fatalities and 50 million injuries. According to the World Bank, pedestrians account for 65% of the fatalities out of the 1.17 million traffic-related deaths around the world, with 35% of these being children. The aim of this research is to examine the factors that influence the rate of pedestrian accidents in Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway in Lagos, Nigeria. The study relied on primary data i.e. direct observation, use of GPS, camera for pictures and structured questionnaire. The Yamane sample size formulae was used to determine the sample size and the result were analysed using descriptive and Stepwise regression analysis. The result of the stepwise regression analysis selected five of the seven independent variables. In all together, the five variables explained about 77.9% of the total variation in the factors that could lead to pedestrian accidents along Lagos-Ikorodu expressway at the 5% level of significance. The five variables are over speeding, drunkenness, pedestrian carelessness, pedestrian ignorance and inadequate infrastructure. The study however recommended that government should ensure that there is a stipulated overall speed limit for urban centres, especially build up areas and also considerations should be given to pedestrians, highway patrol officers should undergo a special training abroad on pedestrian safety to be able to identify a drunk driver through the use of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) equipment, pedestrians also need to be educated and enlightened through various awareness campaign and there should be more provision for pedestrian infrastructure in the study area. Keywords: Accidents, Highway, pedestrian, safety, Vulnerable