Department of Civil and Enironmental Engineering

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Health and Safety Effect of Road Bumps on Vehicle Occupants in Nigeria
(Leon Publications, 2018) Akinpelu, Mutiu; Bilyamin, Ibitoye; Adeniyi, Adeogun
On most roads in the developing countries road bumps are traffic calming measures to promote orderly traffic moment, control speed and improve safety. However, their presence constitutes great discomfort to drivers while climbing over them. Most of them are not well placed and their irregularity cause vibration of vehicles wheels and tilting impacts on passengers. The objective of this study is to examine the efficiency of road bumps and their contributing factors on the discomfort and safety of motorists. This paper concentrates on the 14 km stretch of the highway linking the State capital; Ilorin city to the Kwara State University, Malete. The Vibsensor software was used to collect data on thirty-two (32) bumps existing along the study road. Questionnaires were also assessed to enquire from road users on the impact of the vibration on their health. The obtained result indicates possible health hazards to various human body organs such as inner ear, eye oscillation and motion sickness. The study also found that sudden hard braking of most speeding drivers on sighting the bumps result in pitching and tilting of occupants and/or may even lead to driver’s loss of control to cause serious accidents when the vehicle run off the road.