Income Inequality and Road Transport Accidents in Nigeria

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the impact of income inequality proxied by Gini coefficient on road accident in Nigeria. Data for period of 1986-2019 are obtained from various sources including World Development Indicators (WDI), International Country Risk Guide (ICRG), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), and World income inequality database (WIID). The study employs autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model estimating technique to analyse the data. The results suggest that income inequality has a positive impact on road crashes in the long run and short-run analyses. The paper adds value to the empirics by analyzing the impact of income disparities on road accidents in a developing nation within an ARDL framework. It suggests that uneven distribution of income may have positive relationship with the level vehicle collision. Importantly, higher level of income inequality may create uneven distribution of vehicle ownership, leading to heterogeneous road users. Due to higher level of income disparities, some road users may prefer motorcycles and bicycles while others could be classified as vulnerable group of pedestrians who compete with vehicle road users. Consequently, this contributes to the higher rate of road accident per vehicle on land transport system in Nigeria