Ensuring Road Safety This Festive Season Over the next three weeks, Nigerians in their millions and of different religious persuasions will be travelling in their numbers to celebrate Christmas and the New Year with their loved ones. The empty houses and mansions in the villages will, within this period, again be filled with laughter and merriment. The implication of the mass movement is that the roads, some of which are in terribly bad condition, will be forced to take on more heavy traffic than usual. At the peak of it all, gridlocks will appear along major highways such as the Lagos-Ibadan, Lagos-Onitsha, Abuja-Lagos, Abuja-Enugu, Kano- Lagos and many other expressways across the country. On some bad days, hold-ups may become the order of the day, stretching for kilometres on end. At places like Onitsha Bridge, the impending situation can only be imagined. Beyond the man hours lost and the accompanying inconvenience, the possibility of accidents, many fatal, cannot be ruled out. Even at the best of times and when there are no festivities, the country still records a high rate of fatal accidents on its highways, or what pass for them. According to statistics by the World Health Organisation (WHO), 20.5 out of every 100,000 people die each year as a result of road accidents, most of them below the age of 25. It would not be far-fetched to assume that 20 per cent of these accidents occur in December. To stop the carnage, all hands must be on deck to ensure that the figure is reduced considerably. The onus of responsibility in this regard lies first with the federal government, whose duty it is to ensure that the roads are in good condition at all times. Its agencies, such as the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), responsible for road safety administration, should heighten their level of alertness at this time, to ensure that the highways are safe for all road users. Since they are the face of government on these roads, it behoves them to recommend safety measures, which include improving infrastructure that can help to eliminate or, at least, minimise accidents on the highways. But even more importantly, we need point out, is the expansion of its public campaign on how to ensure discipline on the highways. It is also important to stress that accidents, in most cases, don’t just happen. Most of them are caused by human error, which implies that effort should be concentrated on changing the mindset of the average Nigerian motorist, with regard to road usage, discipline and safety. FRSC, in our opinion, must strive to meet these challenges by mobilising all its resources, men and materials. In addition, it must situate ambulances in places where there are none at the moment. We urge the Nigeria Police, other security agencies and the whole populace to assist in this effort, which, we hope, will ensure an accident-free yuletide.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 09:12:35 +0000
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