Danger Signals for Pedestrians to Watch

Jonas Agwu

Sometime in January 2022, I had a near miss while doing my daily early morning walk to keep fit and stay healthy. I was walking facing oncoming vehicles as the safety rules for pedestrians dictate. In fact, in keeping with my calling as a safety officer, I can boldly say that I took all the necessary safety precautions such as wearing the brighter colours and facing oncoming vehicles. Suddenly the extremely bright lights from oncoming vehicles behind alerted me of a vehicle which was on high speed trying to overtake another vehicle at a bend. I was saved by my guardian anger who shoved me a little bit onto the hard shoulder. That near miss reminded me of the need to ensure that one’s fifth senses are all alert despite complying with the necessary safety precautions.

Startled by this near miss, I strolled leisurely into my office the next day with so many thoughts on my mind; thoughts of how God saved me, where to raise fund to sort out so many personal challenges and hopefully also meet the needs of some close friends and people I do not know, but who think that with my new position in the Federal Road Safety Corps, I must be in the league of the Dangote’s and the Otedola’s. Even the educated ones assume that for every vehicle arrested for traffic infraction, somebody somewhere must be rubbing my palms. My new assignment, as I said earlier, even complicates matters.

I also had thoughts on what topic to focus on this week. There were also thoughts on how to handle the numerous phone calls, text messages and WhatsApp chats for assistance on other issues such as recruitment into the Corps in 2022 and even feeding in the face of the challenges associated with security challenges according to some and COVID-19. I also had thoughts on what topic to focus on this week which for me was most disturbing because of the deadline required. I know I have heard people who are writers complain on what they call writer’s block. Now if gifted writers would lament on what to focus on what then should a bloody road safety officer like me trying to reach out to the road user be going through, if you catch my drift. The reasons for a writer’s block such as fear, timing and perfectionism were all staring me in the face.

Even when I tried some of the getaway tricks such as going for a walk, changing environment, reading a book, listening to music or staying with someone who makes me feel good just did not help me. When I could not make a headway on what to focus on, my mind suddenly flashed on the new normal because of COVID-19 and yet the challenges of ensuring safety on our roads. Even that was without form or substance.

It was just then that a colleague walked into my office oblivious of my inner struggles and asked me if I had heard of the tragic death of the cousin of one of our senior colleagues. I said and with a smile on my face asked him exactly what happen and where. Without knowing how much a savior he had become to me, he gave me a snippet of the incident.

According to his story, the young man named Jerry Uwah (not real name) who is survived by a wife and a daughter before his death was working with a private company in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja where according to colleagues, he had carved a niche for himself as a disciplined and time conscious staff. On this fateful day, Jerry had left his house after pacifying his beautiful daughter with a promise to buy her favorite chocolate on his way from work not knowing what fate held for me. He hugged his daughter, gave her a kiss and waved as he opened the door and immediately flagged down a cab just in front of their two-bedroom apartment in one of the estates in Abuja. He boarded the car and had and smooth and safe ride and alighted at the nearest junction to his office at the central business district without hiccups. He was crossing the road to the other side where his office is when he was knocked down by a car driven by a female driver. The impact of the hit was so heavy that despite being rushed immediately to the hospital, he died as a result of the bleeding from his head.

Jeffrey’s death brought to my memory a similar tragedy I shared a couple of weeks ago on this same page about the death of another young man even though his death occurred differently. According to the story, Frank Uzor (not real name), his wife and their one year and six months old daughter were heading to church on a sunny Sunday morning in their black Lexus Jeep. He stopped by a bank to make a withdrawal for offering. After parking his car at a spot, he believed was safe enough, Frank crossed over to the other side of the road, made his withdrawal at the ATM before crossing back to his vehicle parked at the other side; he got into his car but before he could start his car and move, a Toyota Hilux lost control and crashed onto their Jeep.

Frank, who was anxiously waiting to lavish his wife on their third-year marriage anniversary just a few weeks ahead, died on the spot while his wife went into coma and was unconscious for two days before she eventually regained consciousness. Miraculously, their daughter who was strapped to a car seat behind came out unhurt-she was found just the way she was- strapped and saved by the mercies of God Almighty

I know that there are other cases within the Federal Capital Territory and across other parts of the country. One thing that is clear is that a lot of people who claim to be drivers are really not one. A good number are learner drivers who rather than allow the process of maturing as a driver would rather cut short the process in order to show off like others. I wrote about this in a piece I titled, learners or lunatics for which some readers responded with insults for my choice of words.

While I maintain that a measure of insanity has taken over our roads, I must also state here that there is lot that is wrong with pedestrians and drivers irrespective of age or sex. For some drivers, it has to do with pride and ego as a handful would rather conceal their learner status and drive without their instructor as contained in the National Road Traffic Regulations. There is also the increasing traffic indiscipline which calls for stiffer penalties by traffic officers.

But while I lament on this increasing development, I must note that pedestrians all over the world, including developed climes such as the United States of America, United Kingdom and others face similar risk of being knocked down. In the United State of America, which I love to cite often on this page, pedestrian deaths totaled nearly 6,000 in 2017 for the second straight year amid mounting signs that walkers and drivers are dangerously distracted. Although reasons for the recent rise have not been scientifically determined, smartphones and marijuana use are suspected key factors in the deadly trend. A report released estimates that 5984 pedestrians lost their lives in 2017, a figure almost similar to the 2016 record. According to Richard Retting, director of safety for Sam Schwartz Consulting, who authored the report for GHSA. “People outside cars are dying at levels we haven’t seen in 25 years. “This increase in pedestrian death is coming despite improvements in vehicle safety such as the recent introduction of automatic emergency braking systems, rear-view cameras and collision- alert technology.

A study by The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has identified poor headlights as a problem while poor design and failure to adopt lights that swivel with the curvature of the road are hurting especially at night. Despite these identified challenges, experts’ obverse that pedestrians are sometimes to blame, as well. While it is okay to state that we have a handful of distracted drivers, I must also state again and again that we also have a handful of distracted pedestrians who are also not even literate on how to use the road. What we see daily on our roads are people both behind the wheel and walking in the street failing to take responsibility for their behavior by learning to walk or drive without using the phone. Even okada and tricycle riders have joined the bandwagon

In the case of the United State of America, increased use of marijuana was identified as another potential factor causing the increase According to his story, the young man named Jerry Uwah (not real name) who is survived by a wife and a daughter before his death was working with a private company in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja where according to colleagues, he had carved a niche for himself as a disciplined and time conscious staff. On this fateful day, Jerry had left his house after pacifying his beautiful daughter with a promise to buy her favorite chocolate on his way from work not knowing what fate held for me. He hugged his daughter, gave her a kiss and waved as he opened the door and immediately flagged down a cab just in front of their two-bedroom apartment in one of the estates in Abuja. He boarded the car and had a smooth and safe ride and alighted at the nearest junction to his office at the central business district without hiccups. He was crossing the road to the other side where his office is when he was knocked down by a car driven by a female driver. The impact of the hit was so heavy that despite being rushed immediately to the hospital, he died as a result of the bleeding from his head.