Psychoactive substance use as a predictor of road rage behaviour in a sample of commercial drivers in Enugu, south-eastern Nigeria

Abstract

Two objectives were examined in the present study. The first described the prevalence of psychoactive substance use in a sample of 208 commercial drivers; while the second examined whether psychoactive substance would predict road rage behaviour in the same sample. Purposive sampling technique, which targeted only drivers who were willing to participate at no fee, was utilized to select commercial drivers from 4 motor parks in Enugu, South-Eastern Nigeria. All the drivers were male; there were 102 (49.04%) married and 106 (50.96%) single drivers. Their ages range from 27 years – 52 years (Mean age = 33.52years; SD = 6.04). The years of driving experience of the commercial drivers ranged from 4 years – 29 years. The Psychoactive Substance Use Questionnaire and the Driving Anger Scale (DAS) were instruments used for the collection of data. Data were analyzed with preliminary statistics and a simple hierarchical multiple regressions and correlation (MRC). Results showed that alcohol was the most prevalently used psychoactive substance in the sample, and that alcohol, cocaine, and amphetamine, predicted road rage behaviour (p < 0.001) in the sample. These findings were discussed and the limitations of the study and recommendations were highlighted.

Keywords: Commercial driver; Driving Anger Scale (DAS); Psychoactive substance use; Road rage behaviour; South-Eastern Nigeria