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International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences
Vol. 3, No. 1, 2012, pp. 19-25

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Assessment of drivers understanding of road signs in Ghana: A case study along Ho – Afloa Togo route
Maxwell Selase Akple*, Robert Biscoff
Ho Polytechnic, Mechanical Engineering Dept, P.O.Box Box HP 217, Ho. Volta Region, GHANA
Corresponding author’s e-mail : oomaxi@yahoo.com, Tel. +233 244979950

Abstract
This paper examines driver’s knowledge concerning road sign usage along an international route in Ghana. There were two stages for the data collection. First, an observational study was conducted to determine the specific road signs along the route.
Second, questionnaires were administered to 50 drivers who regularly drove on this route to assess their understanding of those road signs. The study shows that various road signs and markings are along the route. Hump ridge ramps are the dominant road signs observed coupled with pedestrian crossing warning sign posts. Most drivers do not recognize common road signs and markings hence their memorability, remembrance and application during driving is difficult. Main contributing factors are driver’s not professional trained and symbolic nature of the road signs. Challenges encountered during road sign usage include size of road sign indicating situations, visibility, reflectivity and placement. The result of the study recommended alphanumeric road sign and identified that most drivers do not comprehend road signs easily. Government should allocate more resources for training drivers on driving theories and road safety.
Keywords: Road Signs, Drivers Knowledge, Comprehension, Memorability, Ghana.
1. Introduction
The importance of road safety education is the provision for safe movement of goods and people along highways. This is done through erection of posted road signs as traffic regulator devices. Their main function is to provide the road users, especially the drivers, with the important navigational messages (Al-Madani, 2000) and to prepare the driver for a subsequent behaviour necessitated by the road layout ahead (Crundall and Underwood, 2001). Unexpected or abnormal situations on the roads are relayed to drivers through these sign posts. These signs convey messages in terms of words or symbols to road users and emerged historically in order to solve road infrastructure failures (Bazire and Tijus, 2009). Road signs are normally installed during construction of roads warning road users from potential dangers. This implies that a driver must understand traffic regulations and interpretation of road signs. Therefore in Ghana, drivers are expected to pass both written and oral examinations which include usage of road signs before driver’s license are issued to them as in other countries (Bazire and Tijus, 2009).
Lacks of road signs on roads and if present, their neglect are causes of some road accidents. Driver’s recognition or inattention to road signs is also a factor that could lead to road accidents. For instance, a report by Stutts et al. (2001) shows that an estimate of
25–50% of road crashes resulted from driver’s failure to recognized roadway warning hazards. Different approaches were used to assess driver’s knowledge regarding road signs. The commonest method is exposure of road signs to drivers for interpretation.
However, studies indicated that drivers have difficulties understanding meaning of particular road signs indication such as
“slippery when wet”, “road narrows”, “steep descent”, “pavement ends” and “truck crossing” (Zakowska, 2001; Charlton, 2006).
Studies regarding the reflectivity, size and placement of warning signs affect their ability to attract a driver’s attention were carried out (Cole and Hughes, 1984; Hughes and Cole, 1984, 1986). Ideally, road situations and markings should have signs about 50m indicating presence of such situation or road layout at that spot. Driver’s conscious remembrance of road signs when they approach and obey them would contribute to the purpose of road sign usage.
Ghana has 10 administrative regions linked with primary roads, which are paved and well-maintained. But the roads outside major cities generally are in poor condition. Almost all secondary roads are unpaved. There is always traffic on the roads in the

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major cities especially during rush hours. There are 30,000 km of classified roads in Ghana, 15,000 of which are trunk (main) roads and the rest are feeder roads. Only one-fifth of the total road network is paved (ASIRT, 2004).
Vehicle ownership remains low, approximately 8-10 cars per 1,000 people, it is increasing at about 10% yearly, putting a great strain on roads, traffic control devices and pedestrians. Road signs are poor and inadequate leading to potential road hazards to cyclists and pedestrians who share the road with motorized vehicles. Before one drives in Ghana, you must possess a valid driving licence. Licencing activities are carried out by Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA). Ghana’s law on licensing allowed only individuals from 18 years and above to drive. During acquisition of drivers licence, the individual or applicant can apply for a
3-month learner's license. After the expiration of the learner's license, a written exam is conducted of which the applicant must score 70% or more to pass. After the written exam, the applicant takes a test drive with a DVLA instructor. An error-free test drive qualifies the driver to take the last exam which involves identification and explanation of several road signs. If the road signs test is passed, the individual is issued a cover note, which is returned for the driver's license on a said date (DVLA, Annual Report
2011).
Most of the researches regarding road signs and their usage were carried out in developed countries. However, in developing countries such as Ghana, there is little or no documentation on effective usage of road signs. Therefore, this research focused on investigation of impact on provision of road signs on an international route in Ghana. It also examines knowledge level of drivers about the various road signs and markings along the route. The current investigation is guided by the following research questions
• Are there provision of adequate road signs and markings along the route?
• Do drivers have enough knowledge concerning road sign usage along the route?
2. Methodology
2.1 Description of the study area
The study was conducted on 126 km route, an international road linking Ghana to the boarder of Togo. It stretches from Ho to
Aflao in the Volta Region. It is a major road where goods are transported on between the two countries. It passes through towns and villages of the pedestrians with very high where illiteracy. It was observed that a lot of minor and major accidents occur on this road. This is attributed to limited road signs on the roads. For instance road signs such as zebra crossings, play grounds etc were unsatisfactorily marked and even lacking at some appropriate places. Most of the communities along the route were denied some useful road signs. The few road signs were not visible to drivers and pedestrians. Drivers and pedestrians found it difficult to move safely within these areas. Because of the busy nature of vehicles on the road, people especially children and aged found it difficult to cross the road. There is always heavy overcrowding of vehicles and pedestrians on the route.
3. Data Collection
Two approaches were used to collect data. Techniques used involved questionnaires and direct observation. The purpose of this method was to integrate the strengths and weakness concerned with each method. The multiple approach method is also highly complementary and hence increases validity, scope, depth and completeness of knowledge (Ghauri and Grønhaug, 2003; Yin,
2003). The study was carried out for 8 weeks where drivers consent for willingness to participate in the study was sought. Those who were willing to participate in study were interviewed. For quality data, only those drivers who agreed to participate in the study were contacted. This is because the researchers realized that using these sampling techniques i.e. random, accidental or purposive would result in poor quality data since most of the drivers who normally plied the route were unwilling to participate in the study. Data techniques employed in this study are as follows:
3.1 Direct Observation
The researchers observed various road signs and markings while driving along the route. The observation was done in both directions. They include signs within communities, road markings, bends etc. An observation sheet was used to check the various road signs on the route. Road marks were also observed for road signs indicating their presence or not and recorded on the observation sheet.
3.2 Survey:
In the survey, 125 questionnaires were administered to drivers selected at random from group of drivers who normally ply the route. However, only 50 were retrieved since most of the drivers were not willing to be involved in the study. The drivers were given special identity number so that they were not interviewed again. Drivers interviewed were heavy truck drivers (10), private salon car drivers (3), commercial mini bus drivers (33) and taxies drivers (4). These categories of vehicle drivers are frequent users of the route and were the ones who agreed to participate in the study. This diverse group of drivers were considered in the study because of their rich driving experiences and regular training they always had from the Ghana Road Safety Commission (GRSC).
They belong to different transport unions and were interviewed at their various union stations. Both closed and open ended questions formed part of the questionnaires. Questions were centered on general knowledge of road signs and markings, ability to remember road signs when encountered and challenges of road signs. Questions relating to appropriate location and visibility of road signs were also asked.

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3.3 Data Analysis
The data was edited, coded and entered into Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) version 16 software on the computer. Tables and pie charts were generated from the software in order to address the purpose of the study.
4. Results and Discussions
4.1 Observational Study Analysis
The observational study carried out shows that there were 195 road signs along the international route. It includes 81 situations with sign posts and 114 without sign posts (Table 1). The most dominant road sign was hump ridge ramp (31). These ramps were located in communities and villages along the route. These ramps were done as add on to the pedestrian crossing road signs (30) in these locations. This is because most drivers ignore or neglect the pedestrian crossing road signs. However, the hump ridge ramps would force the drivers to slow down. Therefore, humps are effective in controlling speed limit of drivers in communities relative to the speed limit in town road sign.
It was also observed that drivers who do not have good understanding of road signs frequently commit road offences. They are either driving exceeding the speeding limit in towns. This results in their arrest by police using the speed gun. Quite a number of situations on the road were without sign posts (Table 1). This is very dangerous and posses risks to both drivers and pedestrians.
According to a report by Crundall and Underwood (2001), without advance notice of road conditions (or sign post) the driver would have to initiate the appropriate behaviour when they first perceived the focus of the hazard, such as sharp-left bend. This increase the risks of accidents in these situations where the amount of time required to first assess the road conditions and then take appropriate action is greater than the time available before reaching the hazard (Crundall and Underwood, 2001).
No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22

Table 1: Road signs observed on the route
Road Signs
Number of road sign observed β α
Left Bend
3
4
Right bend
2
4
Series of bends to left
1
0
Series of bends to right
1
2
Uneven road
0
0
Hump ridge ramp
20
11
Pedestrian crossing
19
11
Children crossing or school
0
7
Cyclist
0
7
Animal crossing
3
16
Minor road from left
0
0
Minor road from right
0
1
Play ground
4
10
T-Junction ahead
0
0
Overhead electric cable
0
1
Give way, major road ahead
0
1
No over taking by all vehicle
0
8
Maximum speed limit in town
12
11
Stop custom
7
6
Stop for police
4
8
Hospital
3
2
Narrow bridge
2
4
Total
81
114
β: Situations with road sign α: Situations without road sign

Total
7
6
1
3
0
31
30
7
7
19
0
1
14
0
1
1
8
23
13
12
5
6
195

4.2 Demographic Characteristics of respondents
The survey indicated that all the respondents (100%) were males. This is because driving is a male dominated activity in Ghana.
It was observed that in Ghana, females who drive normally do not drive for long distances. They normally drive within the towns or cities. Therefore, it was not surprising that there was no female driver driving on this route. Most of the drivers (60%) interviewed were in the age range of 31-40 years (Table 2). The driver’s interviewed were all above the 18 years mandatory driving age in Ghana. Results from another study indicated that very young drivers (under 19 years) and elderly drivers (over 54 years) face difficulties in understanding and recognizing devices such as road signs (Al-Madani, 2000). The drivers interviewed had education to some extent. The result shows that majority of them (40%) were Junior and Senior high school graduates (Table
3). This implies that they could easily read and write which is a basic requirement for obtaining a driving licence in Ghana. In this

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study, it is assumed that all respondents would understand road signs since they have driving licences. They have passed both the oral and written examinations for obtaining driving licence.
Table 2: Age range of respondents
Age of respondents
Number
Percentage
18-20
5.0
10.0
21 -30
10
20.0
31-40
30
60.0
41 and above
5.0
10.0
Total

50

100.0

Table 3: Educational level of respondents
Educational level
Number
Percentage
Middle School
10
20.0
Junior/Senior High
20
40.0
Technical School
15
30.0
Tertiary
5.0
10.0
Total
50
100.0
4.3 General Knowledge of Road Signs
Knowledge of road signs is not only a factor for road accident prevention. However, the application of the knowledge is a key to the essence of the road signs. This is because road signs convey messages in terms of words or symbols. Signs are therefore, essential where special regulations apply at specific places or at specific times, where hazards are not self-evident (Al-Madani,
2000). The result indicated that the drivers have some level of knowledge concerning road signs. The drivers interviewed had different driving experiences. Majority of them (60%) have been driving for over 10 years, especially the commercial bus drivers
(Figure 1). This shows that they were not novice drivers. It also implies that they have higher class driving licences. Thus should comprehend road signs and markings more. According to Brachacki et al. (1995), there exist effects of driving experience on identification of road signs. It was observed by Al-Madani, (2000) that there exist significant differences between novice and experienced drivers in observing road signs. This was also confirmed in another study that drivers with over 10 years of experience comprehend significantly better than less experienced drivers (Al-Madani & Al-Janahi, 2002).

10%
1 - 5 years
6 - 10 years
Above 10 years
30%
60%

Figure 1: Driving experience of respondents
The drivers interviewed belong to various drivers’ unions in exception of 10% private car drivers and 5% truck drivers. The unions include Protoa (40%), Ghana Private Road and Transport Union (GPRTU) 10% and Co-operative union (35%). The result also indicated that 75% of the drivers mentioned that there were adequate road signs along the route. According to them, the common road signs along the route are shown in Table 4. The road sign showing maximum speed limit in town (i.e. 50 km/hr) is the road sign encountered frequently along the route. This is not surprising because there are quite a number of towns and villages along the route. In Ghana, it is mandatory for this road sign to be installed a distance (i.e. at least 50 meters) before a vehicle enters the town.

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Akple and Biscoff / International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2012, pp. 19-25
Table 4: Common road signs along the road
Road Signs
Numbers observed
Percentage
Left bend
2
9.1
Right bend
1
4.5
Children crossing
1
4.5 or school
Hump ridge ramp
3
13.7
Play ground
1
4.5
No over taking
3
13.7 by all vehicle
Maximum speed
5
22.8 limit in town
Stop custom
2
9.1
Stop for police
2
9.1
Hospital
1
4.5
Narrow bridge
1
4.5

It was observed that adherence to road signs by drivers were difficult resulting in frequent occurrence of accidents. According to majority of drivers (70%), they have witnessed accidents along the route (Figure 2). They mentioned that most of the accidents occurred in communities along the route. However, they could not link it to negligence of road signs. But occurrence of accidents in communities especially knocking of pedestrians simply implies negligence on part of drivers. This is because driving within a speed limit in town (< 50 km/hr) when followed should allow drivers to control their vehicles. Encountering road signs about 100 m ahead before seeing the sign post signal drivers to prepare adequately and comply to the sign. However, drivers were not able to recalled signs they have passed. A study by Fisher (1992) indicates that recall of a road sign was not a reliable indication of whether a driver had reduced their speed or obeys the sign, and more importantly, that many drivers who reduced their speed after passing a warning sign were unable to recall having seen the sign 100m earlier.

30%

Yes
No

70%

Figure 2: Witness of accidents by drivers
4.4 Recognition and Application of Road Signs
The ability of drivers to recognized road signs and apply them are the main contributing factors in reducing potential dangers associated with road usage. Most drivers (74%) stated that, they were satisfied with road signs and markings along the route. This is because unavailability of these signs could pose more threat to pedestrians and drivers themselves. Thus their presence along the route is very essential. According to some drivers, recognition of some of the road signs was their problem. This is because most of the drivers were not professionally trained. They were apprentice bus conductors via drivers. Thus do not understand most of the road signs especially road markings. However, recalling of road signs is the first effective step for its application. It must be followed by conscious efforts of drivers to apply what the road sign shows. This, when effectively done, would actually serve the purpose of the road signs. According to a report by Fisher (1992), a true measure of road warning signs effectiveness is not only recalling, recognition or identification, but extent to which drivers are prepared to operationalized the road signs. In addition, road markings should be clear and prompt drivers of situation of ahead of them. Most of the road signs were in symbolic in nature. This might also account for driver’s inability to recall them easily. According to Jabbar and Naqvi (1992) drivers commit significant errors in detecting symbolic signs compared with alphanumeric ones. Thus alphanumeric signs are better when compared with symbolic ones, so are warning signs compared with regulatory signs (Dewar et al., 1976) because drivers regard them to be more serious. 24

Akple and Biscoff / International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2012, pp. 19-25

Over the years, there were reported incidence of lynching of drivers who accidently knocked pedestrians along the route.
However, it was observed that most of the drivers reduced their speed to the barest minimum when approaching various towns and villages along the route. According to one of the heavy duty drivers:
“One of my colleague drivers was lynched in my presence because he knocked down a pedestrian, hence from that day I always slow down below the speed limit in towns when driving”
4.5 Challenges of Road Signs along the Route
Drivers face some level of challenges in using road signs. The result from the study indicates that some of the road signs were covered with leaves of trees along the edge of the road. Therefore drivers could not see what situation is being displayed on the road sign. More so, the conspicuity of some road signs was questionable. They were blurred and not easily recognizable.
According to some studies, drivers verbally reported that, road signs attract their attention as they drove and found that the conspicuity of traffic signs and signals was generally quite low (Cole and Hughes, 1984; Hughes and Cole, 1986). In addition, reflectivity, size and placement of road signs were some challenges. They assert that some of the sign posts were not very reflective in the dark. According to them, the sizes of sign posts were not big even for the drivers to see what is written on them.
The standard guideline for placement of sign post is about 100 m from the situation being shown. Some drivers were of the view that, some situations along the route were not shown by road sign. These situations even poses risk to them since they normally drive into the situation without any conscious preparedness. These assertions were in line with what was observed by the researchers. 4.6 Road safety interventions
Road safety challenges in developing countries such as Ghana are enormous. However, practical and effective interventions can be implemented to reduce road safety menace. Interventions such as wearing a seatbelt correctly can reduce the risk of road fatalities. Actions such as training of drivers on road safety should be coordinated among the stakeholders for effective results. In addition, there should be a strong political will from the government for enforcement of road safety measures. Capacity of drivers should also be built for sustenance of interventions.
5. Conclusions
Road signs are very important traffic regulator devices. Neglecting road signs pose potential dangers to both drivers and pedestrian. Different road signs and markings are identified along the route examined, majority without posted notices. Hump ridge ramps are dominant among the road situations for controlling speed in town. This is more effective than the speed limit warning sign post. Drivers are aware of the road signs and their importance however; their memorability, recalling and application are their main challenges during driving. Most of the drivers also do not make any conscious effort to abide by the road signs.
Along the route, some of the road signs are not conspicuous, not reflective enough to catch the eyes of drivers and their placement were covered with objects. The road sides should be frequently cleared about 10 feet from the road. Furthermore, the stakeholders involved in road sign designs and traffic regulations such as the Ghana Highway Authority should be adequately resourced for the maintenance of road signs along the route. In addition, symbolic road signs are easily remembered thus alphanumeric road signs are recommended and should be written in both English and French since the route is an international one. Further research could be carried out on relationship between driver’s eyesight and distance of road sign post. In addition, a study on driver’s comprehensibility and impact of road signs should also be studied.
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Biographical notes
Maxwell Selase Akple is a holder of Bsc. Chemistry and Msc. Environmental Science from University of Cape Coast (UCC) and Kwame Nkrumah University of
Science and Technology (KNUST) respectively in Ghana. He has a wide range of research interest in environmental pollution, safety, occupational hazards and risk assessment. Mr Robert Kwadzo Biscoff is a Lecturer in Motor Vehicle Technology in Ho Polytechnic, Ghana. He received his MSc. Automotive Systems Engineering from the Loughborough University, UK. He has research interest in Motor Vehicle fuels and Emissions, Road safety and Traffic management.

Received June 2012
Accepted June 2012
Final acceptance in revised form November 2012