DEATH TOLL ON THE HIGHWAYS

The FRSC could do more to ensure safety on our roads

The latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that no fewer than 2,673 persons were killed in road accidents in Nigeria in the past six months was disturbing. The NBS road transport data for first and second quarters of the year revealed that 1,466 died in the first quarter and 1,207 died in the second quarter. In the first quarter data, 2,556 road accidents were recorded during the period while 2,503 occurred in the second quarter. We believe that such a scandalous number of deaths require urgent attention from the appropriate authorities.

Indeed, the statistics of fatalities on our roads are enough for the government at all levels to raise a red flag and act quickly. And there have been enough warnings in that regard. Only recently, the Corps Marshall of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi, admitted that “road traffic crashes don’t just happen; they are caused either by omission or commission of the drivers, and therefore, could be averted if drivers are committed to carefully observing the causative factors.”

The speed limiting device recently introduced by the FRSC is a step in the right direction. But it is also important for Boboye and his men to call for a technical session with all the stakeholders to enlighten them on the workability of the device. While the public education office has harped on the relationship between speed and injury severity when accidents occur, there is need to assure an increasingly cynical citizenry that this is not another official gambit to rake in revenues.

Besides, the challenge of road carnage in Nigeria goes beyond over-speeding by drivers. With several of the roads across the country in deplorable conditions, it is no surprise that they continue to claim lives. In addition, many vehicles that are ill-maintained do contribute to the road carnage. Globally, nations continually invest in providing and sustaining the potential of transportation to drive economic development, and Nigeria’s case should not be different. It is therefore important that the on-going constructions on our roads be given prompt attention to prevent many of these avoidable accidents and deaths.

What the government, at all levels, needs to understand is that roads are leading infrastructural contributors to micro and macro-economic development. Roads are the backbone of commerce, enabling passengers and freight movement across the nation. In Nigeria, as indeed most economies in Africa, where passengers and freight movement of 75 – 80 per cent depend on road transportation, individuals and corporate bodies depend on roads for survival. There is therefore no reason whatsoever why our nation should not expend huge resources to develop this infrastructure for its economic value.

However, the FRSC should be alive to its primary responsibility as the lead agency in Nigeria on road safety administration and management; making the highways safe for motorists and other road users as well as checking road worthiness of vehicles; recommending works and infrastructure to eliminate or minimise accidents on the highways and educating motorists and members of the public on the importance of road discipline.

We also urge the FRSC and the Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) across the country to ensure that unworthy petrol tankers, trailers and heavy duty vehicles are barred from plying our expressways. It is indeed ironic that while many of the agencies that man our roads harass innocent motorists and road users, they turn a blind eye to the illegality and nuisance caused by worn-out oil tankers and heavy duty trailers. Yet these are some of the vehicles that constitute nuisance on the highways and responsible for many of the road accidents.