The Nation Newspaper

Tag: driving

  • Driving and communication

    Driving and communication

    Driving is a complex task which involves the simultaneous use of several organs of the body (eyes, ears, nose, brain, hands, and legs) in a continuously changing environment (smooth road, dusty road, roads dotted with potholes, wet road, cloudy road, dark road, etc.)

    Driving activities must be well co–ordinated, taking into consideration the activities of other road users with the goal of ensuring effective and safe vehicle control.

    At any point in time, a driver or rider must drive or ride predictably to prevent causing confusion for the upcoming and oncoming vehicles and other road users.

    Communication in driving involves the use of turn indicators (pointers), hands, hazard light (double pointers), reverse light, full and beam lights to communicate the situations or their intentions to other road users.

    There are however two very vital points which many drivers and riders(including vehicle owners) don’t know which I want to use this article to elaborate upon.

    1. Turn indicator (pointer) or hand is not the only signal to indicate that a driver or rider wants to make a turn to the right or to the left. The positioning of the vehicle is also an important signal as to where a vehicle wants to turn to. That is, whether you clearly see the pointer of the vehicle ahead of you or not, the moment you see that the front of the vehicle is tilting to the right or left, you should know that the vehicle is likely to make a turn to that direction where it is tilting to. This is another element of Hazard perception. It is also very vital that you always obey the following – distance rule to avoid being a victim in this type of situation.

    Therefore, drivers and riders must not take the turn indicator or pointer as the only signal they have to see before knowing that the vehicle ahead wants to make a turn. The driver may not know that the pointer is not working, may forget to switch it on or may deliberately move about without functional pointers.  It is however very important that every driver and rider should use the pointer and sometimes, hand to signal their intention to turn. This also should be done early enough and not too sudden.

    1. Hazard lights (double pointers) are not to be used when the vehicle is in motion. It is meant for faulty stationary vehicles. Any vehicle that is still moving on the road must not use double pointers, no matter the status of the drivers of such vehicles or their principals. If the vehicle has a fault or any form of challenge, it must not use double pointers as long as it is still moving and not parked by the road side or on the road.

    It is very common today for emergency vehicles, Police vehicles, military vehicles and several others to be using double pointers. It is against the law. when visibility is impaired (when it is cloudy or raining), you are to use the fog light or low beam and not the double pointers.

    When double pointers are used, nobody will be able to know when you want to turn right or turn left even as most drivers don’t remember to turn them off when turning thereby making their movements unpredictable to the oncoming and upcoming vehicles. This is an aspect of safety risk in driving.

    Communication is very important in driving but it must be adequately and correctly used to prevent confusion, accidents and fatalities.

  • Dangers of driving against traffic

    Dangers of driving against traffic

    Over the years, lots of men and women, young and old have been killed or maimed by vehicles moving against the traffic.

    This offence of driving against the traffic is more common when there is heavy traffic on one lane thereby prompting the impatient and disobedient drivers or riders to illegally divert to the lane of oncoming vehicles.

    Having seen the meaning of and cause of this offence, let us examine the psychology and consequences of the offence.

    When a person is following a routine overtime, it will be registered in his or her subconscious mind thereby making it possible for him or her to perform that same task without giving much thought to it. For example, if a person has been moving around in a house for a while, he or she can move to several parts of the house even in the dark without stumbling because every nook and cranny of the house is already registered in his subconscious mind.

    In the same vein, when a road user’s mind is already made up about the direction of the traffic flow, he may not quickly think that a driver or rider can drive or ride against the traffic even though he knows that there are mad drivers and riders in the Country. This is the reason why many people have fallen victim of vehicles moving against the traffic.

    Driving against the traffic can result in the following:

    1. Crashes with oncoming vehicles who might not be expecting vehicles to drive against the traffic.
    2. Confusion for other road users who are scrambling to avoid having collision with the vehicles driving against the traffic.
    3. Crushing of pedestrians who have gotten used to looking at only are traffic direction before crossing the road and those backing the traffic without expecting vehicles to be coming from behind. It is worthy of note that most of the vehicles that drive against the traffic are usually furious and reckless in their driving mainly because they know that they are wrong thereby rushing to avoid being arrested by the law enforcement agents. Most of such wicked drivers are also guilty of hit and run.

    It is very disheartening that VIPs, Police officers,  and other security officers are also guilty of this terrible offence. Unless there is official diversion because of on-going road construction, maintenance or obstruction, no man or woman irrespective of the status should drive against the traffic.

    It is a form of traffic madness and this is one of the reasons the Lagos State Government in its traffic laws prescribed a psychiatry test for anyone that commits this offence of driving against the traffic in addition to paying the stipulated fine.

    I hereby recommend that the Federal Government through the Federal Road Safety Commission and the State Governments through their Traffic Management Agencies must stand firmly against this offence and take every possible step to prevent it through enforcement with appropriate penalties.  Anyone that cause accident or kills as a result of driving against the traffic should be prosecuted and jailed.

    Where compromise is established between the driver and the vehicle occupants is established, they should also be prosecuted with the driver or rider as the case may be.

    Members of the public should also commence the act of shouting at the offenders and snapping their vehicles with the number plates for direct reporting to the appropriate traffic management authorities and for posting on the social media as a way of curbing this destructive driving attitude which is currently pervading every part of the country no matter whose ass is gored.

    It is a shameful thing that Nigerian is still one of the countries with the highest rate road traffic crashes and fatalities in the committee of nations. It has therefore become expedient that every possible step, no matter how crude to be taken to drastically stem this very sad tide. A stitch in time saves nine.

  • Driving is not a gender matter —LAGBUS trainer Shoderu

    Mr Babatunde Shoderu spent 28 years in the transport industry in the UK before returning to Lagos in 2011 to contribute to the growth of the industry in his home country, with the coming on stream of LAGBUS. He tells HANNAH OJO why the company is absorbing women drivers.

    HOW did you come about the idea of women drivers?

    When I came into LAGBUS Asset Management Limited, I asked the management if they thought of brining in female drivers, and it was like what are you talking about, women driving buses in Lagos? I told them women are just as good as male drivers and if we invest in them, we would find out when we compare their accident rate that they would outperform the men. This is because women are more caring in their customer relationship and they are not as aggressive as male drivers on the road. They don’t drive as fast as the male drivers because they think about the size of the bus and the number of passengers they have on the bus.

    Then, the management kind of pushed it aside. But I did a thorough research and found that Edo State Government stated it with the same Daewoo size of buses. Edo State invested a lot of money in training their female drivers. They took people who had no knowledge of driving, interviewed them and selected them based on their readiness and seriousness. Some of them were university graduates just sitting at home without jobs. Some of them were nursing mothers. They took people from different backgrounds.   I thought of it and I kept reminding the management of LAGBUS that we should give it a try.

    Is there any exceptional performance that a female driver has recorded so far?

    A year after I started with LAGBUS as the head of drivers training, a lady who was an air hostess with Arik approached us and said she wanted to learn how to drive our bus. I was thrilled. We arranged to make sure she has the right certification. She met a group of new entrants who were about a week into their training and she joined them. Though she is late now, out of the 19 in the group, Mrs. Phoebe Adeyemo was the second person to pass in that group exactly four weeks after she started training. We then deployed her to various depots to do our dummy run.

    When we started the performance pay, we were surprised that the late Phoebe was outperforming lots of the men and she was matching the top earners in LAGBUS. It is sad she passed on while she was in labour. We lost her and the baby. Her case was an eye opener for the management that this could be done. So we did advertisements but we were not getting responses.

    I decided that we should go for a road show which would cover nearly the length and breadth of Lagos. The response was mind blowing. We did interviews for the people that showed interest and we selected a few people whom we knew were ready. At the moment, we have seven women driving our buses while three are in the training school.

    It was learnt that some women who started the training later pulled out. What could have been the reason for their action?

    We even try to encourage them by paying them an allowance while they are in training. Also, the passes we issue to them take a big chunk out of their transport fares, which is always one of the biggest challenges for people who are not in employment. We pay them N400 as allowance on a daily basis. We   expect that every man or woman who comes into the training should be able to pass within two months. If you exceed two months in the training school, your allowance will stop. But on the completion of the training, your money will be paid to you. So there is no losing out.

    So we try to encourage the women to stay. But some women now started showing interest because they heard they are being paid while in training. So the ultimate goal was not to come in and drive, it is to get the training allowance and then take off. Some of them will meet me one on one to request for another job placement within the company apart from driving.

    Basically to get into our company, you need a minimum of OND. These are people some of whom don’t even have O’ level certificates. And when you tell them the truth, they will stop coming. Then you will find out their aim was not to come and drive the buses but to put one foot in thinking they could be injected into other parts of the operations.

    Could it be that the rough driving challenge in a city like Lagos is preventing more women from embracing the scheme?

    We must agree first that Lagos is one of the busiest cities in the world. With the women, I rarely see a challenge. Yes, there are challenges, but a lot of the women don’t get the backing of their husbands because the few that stopped attending the training school told us their partners asked them to withdraw. I have seen women doing this job in the developed world; they are happy and boast of their job. I don’t see much about the challenge of driving in a city like Lagos preventing them. I think Lagos and Benin would be the place with the most aggressive drivers in Nigeria, but that is not the challenge.

    In training them, there is the soft, lady-like posture, but that doesn’t work with the buses they are driving. They need to have a strong mindset that they are going for it. Some men spend two to three months in the training school, but I had a lady last month who started on the 29th of July and finished on the 28th of August. She met some men who had been here for two months and she left them. So, it is the person, not the gender. Once you are determined to do something, the challenges become a motivation for you to keep going.

    What is the basic requirement for women who are interested in the scheme?

    They need to have at least a secondary school certificate. Basically, they must be able to read and write in English, and must not be above age 50.

    What is the pay structure like?

    The pay structure is performance-based. For every day you turn up for work, you earn N1,000 for attendance. Then for every ticket that is sold on your bus, you earn 4 per cent. If you calculate that on a daily basis, averagely, our drivers earn in the range of 50,000 and over. We have captains who are earning in the region of 70,00 and 90,000 now.

  • Professionalising driving

    SIR: Hate them or love them, commercial bus drivers and conductors often looked down upon with so much derision by many are fast gaining respect of some sort in Nigeria today.

    The latest ‘honourable’ status being conferred on the commercial bus drivers and conductors is championed overtly or covertly by the confessional statements credited to some political actors in Nigeria.

    These actors at different fora have been admitting and re-enacting their past experiences as commercial bus drivers and conductors. This voluntary seasonal true confession like a Nollywood movie has been attracting so much recognition.

    The list of these political gladiators includes Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, formerly a commercial bus driver; Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, formerly motor park tout; Speaker Mudashiru Obasa of Lagos State, formerly commercial bus driver and street trader; and immediate past Ogun State Commissioner of Education, Science and Technology, Barrister Segun Odubela, formerly commercial bus driver and conductor. With these revelations, the Nigerian political news-space is expected to receive more admissions in the coming days.

    Does it matter where one actually begins from in life? Affirmatively, this does not really matter. Of course, there are several people all over the world with humble beginnings. The idea of humble beginning is certainly not peculiar to Nigeria and Nigerians.

    The main thrust of this article is to emphasise the need to urgently professionalise driving, which daily suffers scorn, as a vocation. The general belief in our clime is that commercial bus drivers and conductors are the ‘rejected’ or the ‘stubborn children’ who are either drop-outs or lack capacity to continue with their education.

    These ‘old beliefs’ have been rubbished. The reality today is that graduates are also involved in commercial bus driving to keep body and soul together and meet their daily needs. This was the same philosophy that forced some of our political actors into this vocation.

    From Lagos to Maiduguri, Port Harcourt to Gusau and Awka to Kaduna, the present-day commercial bus drivers and conductors in Nigeria now enjoy a more dignified status as they can make direct reference to governors, speaker and commissioner as their senior colleagues.

    In the recent times, one of the richest men in the world, Alhaji Aliko Dangote , placed a vacancy advert through one of his conglomerates seeking to employ graduates as truck drivers. I think it’s high time we stopped playing ignorance. We must collectively stop bad-mouthing commercial bus drivers and conductors. It’s no longer a vocation. It’s now a profession and even some political actors today reminisced about and expressed some joy and happiness having passed through that rough road.

    The evidence of their joy is always tucked away within the lines of their meteoric rise from Mr. Nobody to Mr. Somebody. Who says we cannot have a president of Nigeria tomorrow who may have risen from being a commercial bus driver or conductor? The question is: what’s a profession? The quest to come up with a clear-cut definition of what a profession is has often ended up in a pool of controversy, arguments and counter-arguments. According to the popular Wikipedia, “A profession is a vocation founded upon specialised educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested objective counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain.”

    Like every other profession, commercial bus drivers and conductors have a way of acquiring ‘education,’ rendering services to millions of people and organising themselves through their respective associations. In most of the developed countries, commercial bus drivers pass through a series of examinations – practical driving and theory test before being certified as professional drivers.

    The critical stage of getting drivers certified in Nigeria perhaps need to be re-examined and must be made to work. I can take it for granted that most drivers-turned-political leaders in Nigeria might have treated this crucial stage of examination with disdain. Going forward, there is a need to make our institutions work. Bodies responsible for certifying commercial drivers must be awake to their responsibility. The story has changed and we must learn how to do things differently.

    The commercial bus drivers and conductors should also learn from history that they can be greater than their present situation. They should do away with disgraceful behavioural tendencies and activities that make people to cast disparaging remarks at them.

    Next time you see a commercial bus driver or conductor, you might be talking to a future governor or speaker or commissioner or even president.

     

    • Idowu Sowunmi

    idowusowunmi@gmail.com

     

  • High blood pressure and driving

    High blood pressure and driving

    High Blood Pressure or Hypertension is a very chronic medical condition in which the blood pressure is elevated.

    This is a situation where the systolic blood pressure (when the heart beats) is equal to or greater than 140mmHg and/or a diastolic blood pressure (when the heart rests) is equal to or greater than 90mmHg. Essentially, blood pressure is created by the force of blood pushing against the walls of the blood vessels or arteries as it is pumped by the heart. Therefore, the higher the pressure, the harder the heart has to pump to enhance the movement of blood from the heart to the brain and other parts of the body in the vessels.

    Globally, high blood pressure is responsible for 9.4million deaths every year with 1.5billion people being afflicted by high blood pressure. It has been rated as the biggest single risk factor for death worldwide, causing heart attack, stroke, kidney disease and diabetes.

    According to the World Health Organisation, up to 50 per cent of the adults in many African countries are facing the challenges of high blood pressure or hypertension and the rate is still on the increase particularly with the high rate of poverty in the countries.

    Reports have shown that many people have high blood pressure for years without knowing it. Most of the time, there are no symptoms but if it goes untreated for a prolonged period of time, it could damage the arteries and some vital organs in the body. This is one of the reasons why high blood pressure is called a silent killer or a ticking time bomb.

    The symptoms of high blood pressure include headache, shortness of breath, dizziness, chestpain, palpitation of the heart, fainting, nose bleeding and tremor.

    A pathetic news about high blood pressure is that it can quietly damage the body of its victim for years before the manifestation of the symptoms thereby causing damage to the arteries, brain, heart, kidneys, eyes, and several organs.

    Be that as it may, the good news however is that high blood pressure can be prevented, managed or even cured.

    My main focus in this article is on the possible effects of high blood pressure on driving. Driving is a very complex task which involves the simultaneously use of several organs of the body in a continuously changing environment to ensure effective and safe vehicle control.

    Normal blood pressure levels (less than or equal to 120/80) are good for the efficient functioning of the vital organs of the body which includes the heart, kidneys and brain. Normal blood pressure is also good for the overall health and wellbeing of drivers and other people.

    If the resting blood pressure of a driver is consistently 180mmHg systolic or more and/or 100mmHg diastolic or more, then he or she should not drive a car, bus or large truck.

    The medical standards for driving buses and large trucks are much higher than for those driving cars and motorcycles. This is because bus and trucks are larger and heavier. They are also more often driven on long distance balance, expedient for every organ required for effective and safe driving to be in good working condition for the required co-ordination of the complex task of driving.

    Some accident reports revealed situations where drivers lost control of their vehicles after suffering from the fallouts of high blood pressure such as heart attack, stroke and black out or fainting.

    Research has shown that high blood pressure can affect driving in the following areas;

    1. Impaired judgment in terms of wrong risk assessment, hazard perception and faulty emergency decision – making.
    2. Poor co-ordination, steering, braking and maneuvering (including poor interpretation of information).
    3. Show reaction time needed to respond to driving situations.
    4. Incoherent tracking – inability to stay in the lane and maintain the safe following distance, lateral spacing and clearance from other obstacles.
    5. Prostrated high blood pressure may increase the risk of Glaucoma and blindness.
    6. Poor attention for information gathering with the eyes, nose and ears.
    7. Poor perception for glare resistance, dark and light adaptation as well as poor visual acuity.

    High blood pressure over-the-counter and prescribed could also cause some negative reactions that can work against safe driving. These include drowsiness, nausea, blurred vision, inability to think clearly, poor co-ordination and judgment.

    Drivers who have high blood pressure and are on medication or drugs must endeavour to know the side effects of the drugs they use.

    It should also be noted that low blood pressure (the opposite of high blood pressure)can result to weakness of the body, joint pains, dizziness, blurred vision, confusion, blackout or fainting. This is also dangerous to driving which requires concentration, effective co-ordination and control. It must therefore be avoided just like high blood pressure.

    The healthier a driver is, the better he or she will be to drive effectively and safety.

    It is required that Drivers should do a routine checkup because they do a stressful job and/or if they have a family history or hypertension. A stitch in time saves nine.

     

  • Mobile phone and driving

    The rate at which men and women, young and old use mobile phones while driving is alarmingly high and this portends great danger on the roads.

    The use of mobile phones while driving is a high level of distraction which takes the driver’s attention away from the path of travel for more than one second. Professionally speaking, whatever takes the attention of a driver away from the path of travel for more than one second can cause a crash and fatalities. Hence the global campaign against the use of mobile phone while driving.

    I always remember the accident caused few years ago by a woman using mobile phone while driving along Lagos Road in Ikorodu area of Lagos State. While using the mobile phone, the woman suddenly lost control of her car and crossed the low road median to the other side unconscious of an oncoming fully loaded 911 (Molue bus) on the other side of the road. In a bid to avoid crushing the woman’s car, the molue bus driver ended up in the swamp and about 30 people died with several injured. It was the woman herself that was crying and asking God to forgive her for causing that accident through the use of her mobile phone.

    Despite all the reported cases of the road traffic crashes and fatalities caused by the use of mobile phones and the previous public enlightenment programmes, the use of mobile phone while driving is still on the increase in Nigeria.

    The use of mobile phones while driving has a lot of devastating and costly consequences which include the following:

    • It takes the attention of the driver away from the path of travel.

    • It takes the mind of the driver away from driving.

    • It distorts the eye – mind connection in driving and fuels neglect of traffic signs and road markings.

    • It reduces the coordination of the organs of the body involved in driving. That is, it promotes uncoordinated driving.

     

    1. It makes the Driver unconscious of the happenings and traffic around him.
    2. It reduces the visual search and hazard perception ability of the Driver.
    3. It reduces the readiness of the Driver to judge and react to emergencies.
    4. It makes the Driver susceptible to driving errors and accidents.
    5. It changes the mood of the Driver negatively if the news, message or distraction is negative and this is dangerous to safe driving and relationship with other road users.
    6. It changes the mood of the Driver positively if the news, message or distraction is positive and this is also dangerous to safe driving because excitement fuels distractive meditation.
    7. It may eventually lead to loss of lives, valuable properties and costly litigations.

     

    It is now time to take the campaign against the use of mobile phone while driving to a higher pedestal. It is now time for EMPLOYERS to design a policy against the use of mobile phones by their Employees while driving. It is now time for the Employers to specially educate their Employees against the use of mobile phones while driving. Not just the professional Drivers in their employment alone but all the Staff.

     

    It is time for CHURCHES to dedicate special Sermons to preach against the use of mobile phones while driving.

     

    It is time for MOSQUES to dedicate some of their Sermons to teach their members against the use of mobile phones while driving.

     

    It is time for Clubs, Social Organizations, and other Networking Organizations to regularly share among their Members, the message against the use of mobile phone while driving.

     

    The time has come for ALL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS to dedicate some Seminars and Lectures to teach their Teachers, Staff and Students against the use of mobile phones while driving.

     

    It is time for Traffic Management Agencies to commence the prosecution of people using mobile phones while driving in the Law Courts.

     

    It is time for the LEGISLATURES to promulgate Laws against the use of mobile phones while driving.

     

    It is time for the JUDICIAL Courts to expedite action in the prosecution of people arrested for using mobile phones while driving.

     

    Irreparable lives and valuable properties are being lost daily on the roads due to the use of mobile phones while driving.  Both hand-held and hand-free telephone conversations are dangerous to driving, because they all affect attention, emotions, actions and reactions.

     

    It is time to act and everyone must be involved in this crusade which we must win for the safety of lives and properties in Nigeria.

     

     

     

  • Use of phone while driving: Beyond jail sentence

    The use of mobile phone technology was initially confined to the affluent. However, usage patterns have changed substantially in recent yearsas the costs of owning and using a mobile phone have declined.

    Mobile phone use while driving is common, but widely considered dangerous. Concerns have been raised that use of mobile phone while driving increases the risk oftraffic collisions, property damage, injuries, and fatalities.The weight of the scientific evidence to date suggests that use of mobile phone whiledriving does create safety risks for the driver and his/her passengers as well as other road users. Due to the number of accidents that are related to mobile phone use while driving, some jurisdictions have made the use of mobile phone while driving illegal. Others have enacted laws to ban it but allow use of a hands-free device.

    Mobile phone use while driving is classified as distracted driving. Driver distraction is a sub-category of inattention and has been estimated to be a contributing factor in eight to 13 per cent of all road crashes. In fact, it is believed that drivers who use mobile phone while driving exhibited greater impairment than intoxicated drivers. Concentration, therefore, is an absolute requirement for safe driving because there is so much competing for the attention of the human mind. In the principles of defensive driving, the driver must get the total picture which is all inclusive; what is in front of him, what is behind him, what is beside him.One big irony of distracted driving is that many drivers see distracted driving as risky when other drivers do it, but never get to recognise when their own driving deteriorates.

    Recently, the Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) pronounced a prison sentence for anyone accosted using a mobile phone while driving. The recommendation of the jail term by FRSC was predicated on the basis that fines are not achieving the necessary deterrent effect, thus making prosecution the next option to effect attitudinal change amongst motorists. To further drive its seriousness home, the FRSC has teamed up with ExxonMobil and its joint venture partner, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to embark on public enlightenment focusing among other safety measures the dangers of using mobile phone while driving.

    The use of mobile phone while driving mayentail a variety of different maneuvers; searching for a phone in the vehicle, reaching for aphone to initiate or receive a call, dialing, holding a phone near the ear while talking and driving,picking up a phone that has been dropped.

    Even use of a hands-free phone can bedistracting to the driver as conversation consumes mental energy while driving. The varioustasks entailed in using a mobile phone each require a different amount of time, mental energy,and coordination, leading to potentially different complications of the driving task and possibly risking collision.

    Using the mobile phone while driving is not only dangerous to the driver-phone user but to the other road users too. Of all the potential distractions, the conversation takes the prime focus of the driver away from his driving and what is happening around him. His focus becomes the object or subject of his discussion. The hand-held phone detracts from effective handling of the steering wheel or the gear knob.

    Studies have also revealed that even the use of the hands-free phone poses greater risk, because the driver tends to get carried away in the false comfort that he was not holding the phone and this further diminishes attention.

    Severalsurveysby the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in America have found that 80-90 per cent of mobile phone owners use these devices while driving at leastsome of the time. The extent of use whiledriving varies substantially among owners. The survey also discloses that while most drivers understood the dangers of using mobile phones while driving, a large percentage used them not thinking or understanding the safety implications.

    The fallout from the use of mobile phone while driving cannot just be limited to the collisions that may happen. Motor vehicle collisions are harmful in many ways. For motorists these collisions canresult in minor, serious, crippling, fatal injuries or even death. Collisions result in property damageto vehicles that are often expensive to repair. There are also related health care costs, litigationexpenses, insurance administration, lost work time, and other adverse ramifications of collisions.In urban areas, each collision occurring in rush hour can induce a cascade of traffic congestion,emergency response time, and grief for those affected. Thus, if use of mobile phones whiledriving causes more collisions, motorists and policymakers should be concerned. Businesses andinsurers may also become concerned since these firms bear a significant fraction of the monetarycosts of motor vehicle collisions.

    Some people have argued that the use of phone while driving has some benefits. Whether tangible or intangible, they believe that using a mobile phone while driving has some benefits which may accrue to the user of the phone, the user’s family or household, the user’s social network of friends, acquaintances, the user’s business, or the community as a whole. They believe that use of mobile phone while driving can reduceunnecessary trips, minimise the length of trips, and diminish overall time on the road byallowing more effective communication with household members, friends/acquaintances, andother parties whose schedules and transit plans need to be coordinated with the schedule of the driver.

    There is also the tendency to believe that when a driver is running late, he is more likely to speed in order to reach the destination quickly, thereby reducing any negative consequence of arriving late. In such situation, a call from a mobile phone by the driver can notify colleagues of late arrival and diminish the driver’s urge to speed. They also believe that the ability toachieve instant communication, whether from or to a driver, provides the driver apsychological reassurance that unexpected events of the day can be managed effectively and thatworries related to uncertainties can be resolved by instant news conveyed through a phone call. Also, when teenagers drive, parents worry. Similar concern is expressed for other members of the household (spouses or parents), particularly if they are driving long distances or driving late at night. Knowing that these individuals can, if necessary, call home while driving or can be contacted while in transit contributes to peace of mind for all concerned family members.

    However, as rational as these arguments sound, they pale into insignificance because in any of the situations mentioned above, the driver could have easily pulled up at a convenient roadside and make the call without necessary putting his life and that of other road users at risk.

  • CARELESS DRIVING: Ambrose faces court in Scotland

    CARELESS DRIVING: Ambrose faces court in Scotland

    Super Eagles and Celtic defender Efe Ambrose is to stand trial in Scotland next month for careless driving.

    The 25-year-old has been charged with driving “without care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road”.

    He is alleged to have driven at excessive speed, braked sharply and repeatedly overtaken other cars on the Clydeside Expressway on December 18 last year.

    The Nigeria defender denied the charge and will stand trial at Glasgow’s Justice of the Peace court next month.

    Ambrose is a key member of the Nigeria squad which faces Ethiopia in two weeks for a place at next year’s World Cup finals.

    He joined Celtic in 2012 from Israeli club Ashdod, and recently signed an extension to his contract.

     

  • USAA launches tour to curb texting while driving

    USAA has launched a nationwide tour including more than 10 military installations to demonstrate the dangers of texting and driving.

    USAA provides insurance, banking, investment and retirement products and services to 9.6 million members of the United States military and their families.

    The tour, an extension of AT&T’s “It can wait” campaign, features a simulator that demonstrates the impact of texting and driving ability. Texting, for instance, takes a driver’s eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds. That’s like driving the length of a football field at 55 miles per hour blindfolded.

    USAA encourages members and employees to take the “It can wait” pledge to not text and drive. Earlier this year, 6,500 USAA employees took the pledge.

     

    Distracted driving killed 3,331 people and injured about 387,000 nationwide in 2011, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

  • Alcohol and driving

    A recent report by the Federal Road Safety Commission revealed that Alcohol is responsible for most accidents in the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja).

    Without any iota of doubt, Alcohol isone of the potent psychoactive drugs and its social acceptance has made it penetrate all the Classes of Nigerians. The question however is, why is drunk-driving still common despite the various campaigns against alcoholism? Why is it that less people drink poison? Why is it that it is only those that are desperate to die that drink poison?

    The answer is not far-fetched. People are convinced about the reality of the consequences of drinking poison while there is less conviction as to the immediate and long-term consequences of drinking alcohol. There are lots of advertisements allowed in the print and electronic media telling the whole world the reasons why people need to drink alcohol. The pressure on people to drink alcohol is more than the information on why people should abstain from it. When an alcohol producing Company is sponsoring a Government Agency to run a campaign on alcohol and driving, will the Agency not be biased in the choice of language against alcoholism?

    Government and some relevant Agencies are also playing hide and seek game so as not to offend the Alcohol Manufacturers or hider the inflow of income from them through Taxes.

    Sometimes, popular and influential Celebrities are used to advertise different brands of alcohol thereby encouraging people and sadly, the youth to drink alcohol as a socially acceptable drug. There is even a particular brand of alcohol that is being promoted as ablood booster while another one is being promoted as an energizer for men. As long as these activities continue, the drinking of alcohol will continue, not minding the effects on driving and even in the workplace.

    The same reason is responsible for the regular accidents involvingarticulated vehicles. The Drivers are not exposed to deep training programmes on the effects of the Principles of Kinetic Energy, Inertia, Centrifugal Force, Centripetal Force, Circular Motion, Road Banking, and Hydroplaning among other Forces thus making them fall prey wherever they encounter any of the above forces in their driving.

    All categories of Drivers (Private and Commercial) and vehicle Owners must be exposed to trainingprogrammes that will make them understand and be convinced that driving goes beyond the movement of a vehicle from onepoint to another. A lot of factors interplay in the process of driving which they must know and apply effectively.

    One of the solutions to alcohol and driving is to be factual about the real consequences of drinking alcohol with casestudies to prove it. For example, when information about HIV/AIDS came into the country, a lot of people did not believe that it exists but when the evidences or case studies started manifesting, majority of Men and Women now, young and old, either abstain, remain faithful to their Spouses or use Condom to avoid being infected.

    For the benefit of those who have not known, and as a reminder to those who already know, I will briefly mention the effects of alcohol- drinking and the hangovereffects on driving.

    • Alcohol slows down the body mechanism. This is the reason why you hardly see a drunk person that walks fast,straight or talks clearly and fast.

    Because driving is a complex activity that involves the simultaneous use of many organs of the body (Brain, Legs, Hands, Ear, Nose, Eyes etc) Alcohol will slow down the rate of co-ordination of the organs thereby exposing the drunk drivers to hazards on the road.

    There is no one that can drive normally as usual after drinking alcohol no matter how little andno matter how much you fake your look or pretend to be unaffected. Alcohol surely reduces a Driver’s ability to drive safely.

    • Alcohol is a depressant and it affects most areas of the human brain thereby having wide- ranging effects on the body system. The brain is the control panel of the human body and it is not only the tetra-hydro-canabinol in Indiam Hemp that distorts the normal functioning of the brain. Alcohol also distorts the normal functioning of the brain and consequently the other organs of the body on which safe driving largely depends upon.

    • Alcohol slows down the reaction time. For example, if there is an emergency, a drunk driver will be slow in reacting or taking safe decisions.

    • Alcohol can fuel drowsiness in adriver thereby exposing him to the dangers of micro sleep.

    • Alcohol impairs the judgment skill of the driver, making it difficult for him to correctly judge self-speed, the speed of oncoming vehicles (when trying to overtake), the following distance, and hazard perception.

    • Alcohol makes the Driver fearless and have false confidence that his driving is the best. A drunk driver is not afraid to take risks that can lead him to untimely grave. A drunk man can trek to anywhere by 2am without the fear of armed Robbers even at gunpoint. Alcohol makes people put on the garment of fools.

    • Alcohol distorts the co-ordination skills of a Driver. It makes it difficult for a driver to effectively co-ordinate the use of gear, horn, turn indicators, brake, etc.

    • Alcohol reduces the attention of a Driver. It makes him pay less attention to other road users, traffic signs, road markings and the road.

    • Alcohol causes blurred vision thereby making the Driver to see double or not see the road and road furnituresclearly while driving.

    • Alcohol aggravates fatigue and allied problems.

    • Alcohol has other devastating effects on the health of human beings and it is expedient for anyone that drives to be exposed to the above effects and more so that he or she will be able to choose wisely between life and death.

    • Alcohol also has hangover effects which can adversely hinder safe driving. Hence the inappropriateness of the campaign that says”don’tdrink when you drive and don’t drive when you drink”. After taking alcohol, it takes a relatively long time to sober-up and become normal again contrary to people’s believe.

    Result-oriented and comprehensiveprevention education coupled with uncompromised enforcement should be employed to attack this monster of drunk-driving in Nigeria.