CURBING ACCIDENTS ON NIGERIAN ROADS

Regulators should do more to stem the carnage on the roads

The rise in the number of crashes on our roads is both distressing and frightening. In a recent report, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) disclosed that a total of 2,471 deaths and 5,320 crashes were recorded within the first half of this year. Perhaps more disturbing is that majority of these accident victims are people in the prime of their lives. Apart from the burden that these road mishaps places on victims’ families, they also take a huge toll on the national economy.

Available reports from both the FRSC and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) have at different times listed major causes of accidents on our roads. In the last quarter of 2018, for instance, overspeeding accounted for 52 per cent of the total road fatalities reported, while dangerous driving and wrongful overtaking were some of the other causes. Insufficient safety features in vehicles and driving under the influence of alcohol are also implicated as causative factors in crashes which cost the nation more than N450 billion annually. It is common knowledge that there are too many rickety vehicles on our roads. The tyres of several vehicles ply our roads are worn out just as their brakes are suspect. Some drivers operate in foggy condition with one functional headlamp.

Besides, driving on Nigeria’s approximately 200,183 kilometres road network can be risky and arduous as large swathes have broken down, ridden with potholes due to neglect. Indeed, apart from many of the highways that are littered with craters, driving at night is comparable to walking through a dark alley because of lack of streetlights. Besides, the unpassable state of the roads has literally made them a den for robbers and kidnappers who waylay innocent passengers at any time of the day to carry out their nefarious activities.

We therefore call on the authorities at all levels to fulfil their constitutional and civil duty to the public by fixing major roads to mitigate the distressing harvest of deaths. It amounts to criminal negligence that many lives are being wasted on our roads despite the promises made by successive administrations.

Government agencies, including the FRSC, Vehicle Inspection Offices and Police traffic departments should take drastic steps to ensure that our roads remain safe all the time. The federal government should also consider enacting a national road safety policy that will outline various measures pertaining to road safety. These should include raising awareness about road safety, creating a road safety information database, promoting safer road infrastructure, encouraging safer vehicles, identifying needs of vulnerable road users, enforcing road safety laws, and ensuring medical facilities for victims when accidents occur.

Given that the last quarter of the year is often associated with higher vehicular movement and human travels across the country, the FRSC should begin an early campaign for safety on wheels. We must put an end to the harvest of deaths on Nigerian roads.