Injury-Fatality Patterns and Socioeconomic Impacts of Road Traffic Crashes: A Comparative Analysis Across Nigerian Urban Centers

Road traffic crashes (RTCs) remain a major global public health and socioeconomic problem, with a disproportionately high burden in low- and middle-income countries such as Nigeria. Despite the critical role of road transport in supporting economic and social activities, RTCs continue to cause substantial mortality, morbidity, and economic losses, thereby undermining national development and productivity (World Health Organization, 2023; World Bank, 2022). Globally, over 1.19 million deaths occur annually from road crashes, alongside millions of injuries that often result in long-term disability and reduced quality of life (WHO, 2023). Nigeria contributes significantly to this burden due to rapid urbanization, increasing motorization, weak enforcement of traffic regulations, and inadequate emergency response systems (Inah et al., 2025; Ogboeli et al., 2026). The occurrence and severity of RTCs are influenced by interacting human, vehicular, and environmental factors. In Nigerian urban centers, high population density, poor road infrastructure, traffic congestion, and risky driving behaviours such as speeding and reckless overtaking increase crash risks (Eneh, 2023; Afolabi et al., 2025). However, mortality outcomes are not determined solely by crash frequency, but also by crash severity and systemic factors such as emergency response time, trauma care capacity, and access to medical services (Odusola et al., 2023; Onwurah WHO, 2023). These impacts often push affected households into financial hardship and deepen existing socioeconomic inequalities, especially in low-income communities with limited access to healthcare and social protection (Afolabi et al., 2025; Virginia Transportation Research Council, 2024). Although spatial and temporal variations in RTC patterns have been reported across Nigeria, few studies have conducted comprehensive comparative analyses across multiple urban centers to simultaneously examine crash frequency, severity, and socioeconomic impacts over time. This study therefore, addresses this gap by investigating injury-fatality patterns and socioeconomic impacts of RTCs across selected Nigerian urban centers from 2015 to 2024.