The death of Minister of State for Labour and Productivity James Ocholi (SAN), his wife and son in a road crash on Sunday, March 6, has re-ignited the debate on road safety. What should be the speed limit? Should public officers be exempted from the rule? ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE writes
Until March 6, James Elegbede, driver of the Minister of State for Labour, the late James Ocholi (SAN) was just like many others in his profession – unknown and unsung. But he grabbed the head line that fateful day after driving the Lexus Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), which somersaulted several times, killing the minister, his wife, Blessing and son Joshua.
Elegbede, the government said, may be prosecuted for over speeding and driving without licence. According to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Babachir David Lawal, he should be prosecuted for flouting the laws on speed limit and driving without a licence.
The death of Ocholi and the Commander of Training and Operations Department of the Nigerian Army, Maj-Gen Yasha’u Abubakar, in another accident, has underscored the need for safety
Federal Road Safety Corps Marshal Boboye Oyeyemi, believes the only way for the Corps’ continued relevance is to be more vigilant and assertive in its accident prevention strategies.
Briefing the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on its preliminary findings on Ocholi’s death, Oyeyemi urged President Muhammadu Buhari to champion the enforcement of the seat belt law and the campaign against over speeding, by ensuring that motorists, especially commercial drivers, instal speed limiters in their vehicles.
But beyond calling for the acquisition of speed limiting devices, experts said the FRSC should set clear speed limits, acquire technology to detect the abuse of those limits and raise its organisational capacity to prevent motorists from wilfully committing suicide or killing others.
The agency should descend on politicians and top government officials fond of flouting the seat belt law. Besides over speeding and the forceful pulling of the brakes when the vehicle had a tyre blowout, the eviction of Ocholi and his son from the vehicle because of their non-use of seat belts, Oyeyemi said, reduced their chances of survival.
The FRSC chief said: “The ejection of the minister and his son, who occupied the rear seat, confirmed that their rear seat belts were not in use, while on the contrary, the driver and the orderly survived because the front seat belts were used”.
Many have been made to believe that passengers sitting at the rear can do without using the seat belts because the FRSC does not enforce their use.
During a visit to Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker Mudasiru Obasa, the Acting Lagos Sector Commander of FRSC, Mr Michael Olapade, described the roads as the greatest killer, which are more dreaded than the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
Lamenting the high rate of deaths arising from accidents, Olapade said; “It is worrisome that the lives of our youths are being lost daily. Many people talk of AIDS as the most deadly, FRSC does not believe this. When you talk of number of deaths, road accidents are higher than the number of lives lost to AIDS.”
Olapade, who said he was meeting with the lawmakers to see areas of more strategic partnership and support for the lead road safety agency, said; “We are ready for stronger partnership, we want to partner with all the stakeholders who are committed to saving lives on our roads.”
Causes of accidents
According to experts, major causes of accidents remain over speeding and distraction. They, therefore, counselled: put the phone down, turn off the radio, put your two hands on the steering wheel and be alert all the time for any infraction by the driver ahead of you.
“While on the road you must think that only you know how to drive and all others are ignorant of the rules of driving,but they are driving.
“Next watch out for how you overtake. Overtaking accounts for 90% of the road accidents. Do not go fast unless your vehicle is fit for it. Do not drive fast were children may cross the road. Do not drink and drive. Do not drive when you are depressed or in sorrow. Do not make last minute rush. Always remember the Golden Rule, Its better late than never. Go to airport or railway station half an hour before. Always keep the distance between you and the vehicle ahead of you. Do not make abrupt stop, and do not allow youngesters to drive.”
According to them, to drive safely, motorists must also internalise the following: Maintain your lane; never overtake from wrong side; maintain the prescribed speed limit, and give signals well before turning.
Also, always use helmet, while driving a two wheeler, give adequate warning to the vehicle ahead of you before you ovetake; be careful of bumps and cavities on the road, use back view mirrors, keep your brakes in smooth working condition and avoid cell phones while driving.
Writing on the issue last week, President Goodluck Jonathan’s former spokesman Dr Reuben Abati had said: “there must be a vigorous campaign launched at all levels by the FRSC, civil society groups and other agencies to remind everyone that it is better to be a big man or woman alive than to ignore a simple safety task and lose one’s life.”
The Founder of Safety Without Border (SWB) Mr Patrick Adenusi challenged FRSC to change the game plan by clamping down heavily, not only on front seat belt violators, but on all vehicle occupants violating the seat belt rule.
He said: “Ninety-nine per cent of government and security officials do not wear seat belts. FRSC must enlighten motorists that seat belts are not only meant for those sitting on the front seats alone, but for all occupants of a vehicle. It is on record that when accidents occur, those at the back seat who were not latched are usually thrown forward and very often such impact, leaves those in front with serious injuries.”
He also called for more punitive measures to be meted out to violators of the traffic laws and regulations, adding that violators are risks not only to themselves, but to other occupants of the vehicle and anyone driving should be guided by the rules guiding the safe use of the roads.
The SWB chief said the FRSC must not wait for another tragedy to occur, but to take concrete steps in preventing future occurence, for the sake of the unsung victims whose death go unreported.
To reduce the rate of accidents, Adenusi canvassed that government should pay closer attention to the state of the roads, most of which he said are death traps. According to him, crater, gullies and potholes, dotting the entire landscape of road network across the country, must be addressed if the nation is to successfully reduce crashes on the roads.
He said the state of the nation’s roads remained the all important responsibility that the Federal Government owes the people of this country.
For the status of the country to change from being the fourth with the most unsafe road network, government must not ignore the roads.
He called for the installation of speed limit signs on all roads in the country irrespective of their classes, whether federal, state or local governments.
He said the absence of appropriate speed limit signs on the roads across the country gives more latitude to motorists who abitrarily fix their own speed limits.
Adenusi said speed infraction is usually difficult to enforce where there’s nothing to show that a breach of the law has been committed, adding that setting speed limits is a global rule of the thumb in fixing the troubling high speed syndrome.
“Look at Lagos for instance, the entire stretch of Ikorodu Road, from Western Avenue to Ikorodu town, has no speed limit sign. Ditto for the Third Mainland Bridge and the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, the Apapa-Oshodi-Badagry Expressway. Speaking on the expressways, the speed limit, he said, cannot be homogenous because the speed limit around all built up locations on those routes cannot be the same as other areas that are not.
“If the government or the relevant agencies come up with speed limit across all roads, then contravening violators would be easier as the FRSC would be able to enforce the contravention of these limits,” he said.
Adenusi said Nigerian motorists are used to driving without road signs, a development which has made the regulatory agencies to be the ones championing a speed limiting device on all vehicles.
A vehicle with 80 set as the speed maximum would still run afoul of the law if the driver drives with such speed in a crowded area such as school, market, or hospital, Adenusi said, adding that allowing a driver to apply the “commonsense limit” of speed when on the road is begging the question and limiting the capacity of FRSC to strictly enforce laws meant to keep the roads safe and protect lives and property of all road users.
“That is why I would totally support the enforcement of speed limiters on commercial buses, but resist its enforcement on private cars because, for large passenger buses, there might be genuine need to support your enforcement with a direct limiting device, but private car speed violators are better apprehended with speed limit signs,” he added.
Another safety expert, Innocent Williams, said no efforts should be spared in making the roads saner and freer of accidents.
Williams said anyone without a driver’s licence has no business behind the wheels of any vehicle and should be heavily sanctioned if arrested.
He called for a review of the present penalties and fines for traffic violations, which he said appeared too cheap– a development that often tempts motorists to flout the regulations with impunity.
According to the rules, speed violation attracts only a fine of N3, 000; driving under the influence of alcohol- N5, 000; vehicle licence violation -N3, 000; driving without seat belt – N2, 000; use of phone while driving- N4, 000; and dangerous driving attracts N50, 000 fine.
“These penalties are too cheap and motorists are tempted to misbehave and drive recklessly endangering not only their lives but also all those they are carrying in the vehicle,” Williams added.
Williams noted that of all the elements that could lead to road accidents, such as electrical or mechanical faults, the human element, which is the most crucial, must not be trifled with, if the government is determined to make any success of the safe road campaign promoted by the FRSC.
He challenged the government to rise from the shock of the deaths of Ocholi family members with a resolve to greater commitment to make the road safer for all Nigerians, who deserve better roads as the dividend of the civic duties of the state to her people.
