by Moyo-Angel Bamidele
One of the great ills plaguing our society today is road accident claiming lives and property. Indeed, the menace of road accident is seriously and dangerously threatening the very existence of our own society. Our newspaper in screaming headlines, report almost daily on the incidence of road accident here and there all over the country. Lives are no more safe? Can one day pass without a road accident? There is a general feeling of insecurity on our roads. As a result of re-occurring of road accident, people have given series of suggestions concerning how the case of road accident can be checked. But do we proffer solutions to something its causes have not been identified? My view, therefore, is that the causes of road accident be traced before it can be checked.
First, the deplorable state of the nation’s roads is unremarkable. Very narrows roads and roads without road marks or lanes are common in this part of the world. There are several instances where drivers try to avoid potholes only to collide at high speed with oncoming vehicles. There are many cases while driving; the driver will not see oncoming vehicles due to up-hilly topography on our roads. Most of our roads are covered with trees and weed, which obstruct the sight of drivers. Can we have a local, state and federal government that will use tax payers’ money to build good and durable roads? Can we have a system where such roads will be maintained regularly? If the government of our day can spend good money to build and maintain our roads this will help life safety.
Likewise, the rate at which the tanker and trailers’ drivers disturb and damage the road is alarming. If most of our roads are dualised and there are separate roads for trailers, our roads will be accident free and drivers will travel smoothly. There should also be an alternative to major roads in case of any traffic jam on the road, this will prevent many road users from spending too much time on the road.
In addition, Alcohol is a contributor to road accident. You may have heard it many times: ‘drinking and driving do not mix’. Unfortunately, not many people pay heed to this advice. Most accident has occurred under the influences of intoxicating drinks. The matter of alcoholic consumption by drivers is a major threat, which has little or no attention in the past years. The threat posed by the drunk drivers has reached an unprecedented level and Nigeria rather than a witness a decrease in fatalities caused by drivers driving under the influences of alcohol like most countries involved in the fighting against road safety crisis, is having a dramatic increase in road crashes. Such avoidance road crashes should be blamed on poor enforcement, which has been largely attributed to lack of breath-testing facilities, inadequate resources of the FRSC (Federal Road Safety Commission). Scientific evidence and acknowledged research findings prove that consumption of alcoholic by drivers is a contributory factor to increase in roads accident in developing countries. Countries that have experienced drastic reduction in road crashes are due to zero tolerance of alcoholic while driving and anti-drink driving. A bill should be passed compelling all alcohol manufactures to act socially responsible either by providing a counter measure to the negative effects of their products and establishment of an agency that will militarize against Drunk Driving.
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