Remembering Faces Behind Crashes

By Jonas Agwu

She was only 25 years and an only child. A graduate from one of the high profile Universities in the country. Chide Hendricks (not real name) left home on a Friday noon with the intention of returning the same day. Chide left without informing her parents to visit her lover in a town barely 30 kilometres from her village in one of the states in the South-eastern part of the country.

The journey was in the company of two of her close friends and confidants. But just about a few kilometrrs to her destination, there was a crash caused by brake failure. Neither Chide nor any of the occupants died in that crash. However, the injuries sustained-spinal cord injury- kept her bedridden for months only for her to pass on a few weeks to the Christmas celebrations.

Chide’s death is part of the statistics released by the FRSC, as part of the media releases which raises concern over the spate of road traffic deaths in some parts of the country caused by excessive speed and night journey as well as fatigue which in itself is a silent killer.   

I have on several occasions painted the picture of the crash trend and how the number of adult male, as well as children, involved has increased with an appeal especially to parents to save the child by procuring child restraints. In one of such pieces, I explained why I was raising the alarm because recent developments indicate that the number of children involved in road traffic crashes is increasing.

I also reminded you of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) scary global picture of deaths and injuries involving children but I noted that I was no longer dealing here with the reality of the World Health Organization global picture but the reality of the Nigerian scenario which calls for immediate and drastic action, especially by parents who pay lip service to child safety.

I expressed my excitement that the Corps keeps re-tinkering with the most appropriate novel strategy to deal with this emerging trend. Some of these strategies include the sustained engagement with community heads through town hall meetings, as well as seeking the buy-in of religious leaders to raise safety consciousness, especially as we have entered the last month of the EMBER Months.

However, I have shared my worry on what I feel is still fundamentally wrong with the level of compliance; wondering why a parent would buckle up yet allow his three-year-old child to be lapped while driving or why a parent who can afford a car whose cost is estimated at over three million naira, fails to procure a car restraint that has the potential of saving that child in the event of a road traffic crash?

The stark reality of the current trend should keep every parent on his toes. It was however sadly noted that the reported cases of crashes despite the Corps rejigged interventions calls for sustain collaborations and support in addressing crashes as we navigate through one of the trying months noted for increased road traffic crashes and fatalities.

One of my reminders to  parents was  that one of the most effective means of reducing deaths and injury for vehicle occupants is the use of seat belts by  occupants in the front and rear seats as contained in section 58 (3) and (4) of the National Road Traffic Regulations, 2012. My simple message was that Seat belt use saves; they don’t prevent crashes but play a crucial role in reducing the severity of injury to vehicle occupants.

Vehicle safety features are distinguished by “primary safety and secondary safety.” Primary safety features aim to prevent an accident taking place, e.g. good brakes and tyres. Secondary safety features, on the other hand, aim to prevent or minimise injury to vehicle occupants once the accident has occurred.

Seat belts are secondary safer service with a number of objectives which include preventing ejection from the vehicle in an impact, reducing the risk of contact with the interior of the vehicle or reducing the speed of such impacts, providing a distributed force to the wearer to give the necessary support in an accident and restraining the vehicle occupant before guiding them back into their seats.

This trend makes it imperative for parents to note that the safest way to carry a child and to protect that child is to use a seat that is suitable for the weight and size of the child. Parents should also note that even at a minor crash; an unrestrained child would be thrown about inside the vehicle, injuring themselves and others.

They could also be thrown from the car through one of the windows. Every parent should also know that in a crash at just 30km/h, an unrestrained child would be thrown forward with force, 30 to 60 times their body weight. They would be thrown about inside the vehicle. It is therefore not safe to hold a child on your lap.

This is because, in a crash, the child could be crushed between our body and part of the car’s interior. That even if you were using a seat belt, the child would be torn from your arms and you would not be able to hold onto them, no matter how hard you try. Do you also know that it is also dangerous to put a seat belt around yourself and a child or children in the front passenger’s seat or on your tummy?   

Chide and other loved ones, friends and people whose details I don’t have were among the people the world gathered across nations including Nigeria to remember in keeping with the United Nation charge adopted following the United Nations General Assembly recognition in 2005. The  day is tagged, the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims

According to the Ministry of Health, Prof Sydney Ibeanusi, the day has become an important tool in the global efforts to reduce the mortalities and morbidities as a result of Road Traffic Crashes. The day draws attention to the scale of the problem, including loss of lives, livelihood and resources from road crashes with negative physical, psychological, social and economic consequences.

The day he also noted provides an opportunity to applaud  the  support and rescue services by  the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Federal Fire Service (FFS), Vehicles Inspection Officers (VIOs), Emergency Rescue Workers, Emergency Medical and Health Workers, Nigerian Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Traffic Police and all other stakeholders that are deeply involved in saving victims of road crashes.

As we mark this Day in 2023, we need to remember that road traffic injuries cause considerable economic losses to families and negative effects on our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). According to the World Health Organization, Road traffic crashes cost Countries such as ours up to 3% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

As we mark this year’s event, our spotlight should focus on the reduction of traffic speeds. This is because reduced speed has the potential to prevent many deaths and serious injuries, in particular amongst those that constitute the vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, motor cyclists, children, elderly and the disabled.