GROWING FATALITIES ON THE ROAD
The authorities could do more to stop the carnage
The rise in the number of crashes on our roads is both distressing and frightening. According to the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), a total of 4,387 people were killed between January and June across the country. No fewer than 14,108 injuries sustained from road crashes were also recorded within the same period. Citing fatigue, dangerous overtaking, use of worn out/expired tyres, among others as causes of these accidents, the FRSC Assistant Corps Marshal, Bisi Kazeem warned against night travels because of the inherent dangers. “You know our men do not operate at night, as such these drivers take advantage of our absence on the road to violate established traffic regulations.”
That Nigeria is reputed as one of the countries with very high road fatalities in the world is no longer news. In every four hours, going by available statistics, at least two lives are lost to such carnage every year, with about 20,000 of the 11.650 million vehicles in the country involved in accidents. Apart from the burden that road mishap places on victims’ families, they take a huge toll on the national economy. With N450 billion estimated to be lost annually from goods and services that perish in these road accidents, it is a huge toll on the country. Particularly disturbing is that majority of these accident victims are people in their prime.
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. The most common is driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and distraction. Other things that cause vehicular accidents include street racing by children of affluent parents, especially in Abuja and capital cities, dangerous road curves, etc. It is also common knowledge that there are too many rickety vehicles on our roads. The tyres of several vehicles plying the road are in bad shape, 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. Driving at night is comparable to walking through a dark alley because of lack of streetlights. In addition, the unpassable state of many of our 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.
These tragedies can be curbed by common sense and inexpensive remedial interventions. If we must put an end to this preventable harvest of deaths, government agencies, including the FRSC, Vehicle Inspection Offices and Police traffic departments should take drastic steps to ensure that our roads remain safe all times. The federal government should also consider enacting a National Road Safety Policy that will outline various policy measures pertaining to road safety. These include raising awareness about road safety, creating a road safety information database, promoting safer road infrastructure, encouraging safer vehicles, enforcing road safety laws, and ensuring medical facilities for victims when accidents occur.
