Have you installed a speed limiter?

Are you aware that this new strategy will involve both commercial and private vehicles although real enforcement is to start with commercial vehicles who presently account for a significant percentage of crashes and fatalities? If you own a car or you are planning to get one, you should pay particular attention to this new strategy […]

Are you aware that this new strategy will involve both commercial and private vehicles although real enforcement is to start with commercial vehicles who presently account for a significant percentage of crashes and fatalities? If you own a car or you are planning to get one, you should pay particular attention to this new strategy to curb the increasing incidence of speed related crashes which over the last years has given leadership of the Corps great concern.
 Statistic available to the Corps indicates that excessive speed has in the last three years ranked as the highest causative factor, accounting for over 38.87percent of crashes on our roads. Dangerous driving is the second highest. This is in spite of the provisions of the National Road Traffic Regulations which spells out the speed limits for various categories of vehicles on our roads. While the law specifies 100km/h for private cars for private cars on the expressway, the same law specifies a speed limit of 90km/h for taxis and buses. Trailers and Tankers have a maximum speed of 60km/h and 45km/h for towing vehicle while in a build up area, the speed limit could be between 20-30km/h to 50km/h.
 Despite this prohibition on speed, excessive speeding remains on the increase even though research findings indicate that at a speed of a 1000km/h, your vehicle does 28metres per hour.  This development prompted the Corps last year to midwife the installation of speed limiters in vehicles. It held nationwide stakeholders fora on speed limiting device and called on relevant stakeholders such as the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) on the need for sped calming device to be installed along strategic corridors. Across the country, various speakers threw their weight behind the new initiatives, stressing the significance of speed limiters in the campaign to check excessive speeding in the country. Speaker after speakers which included the FRSC Corps Marsha and Chief Executive, Osita Chidoka noted that the issue of speed had been on the front burner of the World Health Organization (WHO) advocacy as a key factor in road traffic injuries, influencing both the risk of crash and the severity of the injuries that result from crashes. They added that the WHO and Global Road Safety Partnership, in a publication, ‘’Speed Management on road safety Manual for decision makers and practitioners’’ recommends that speed limits be introduced in every country a part of the global strategy to cut down road fatalities.
As we await the details on the new strategy which already has been approved by SON, what really is speed? Speed according to Adewale Akande, in a paper. ‘’Excessive Speed as a vital Human Factor in Road Traffic Accident,’’ is defined, as exceeding the posted limit or driving too fast under stipulated or normal conditions.  Speeding is deemed to have occurred when an individual is travelling above the accepted legal speed limit on any road. Speed limit varies between roads as was cited at the beginning of this piece. For emphasis the maximum speed limit is 100%km/h and 50km/h In built up areas. It is the obligation of the traffic law to signify any change in speed between routes. Speed limits are introduced to promote greater road safety and prevent environmental pollution such as noise and smoke.
In a safety research conducted by the centre for Automotive Safety Research at Adelaide University in South Australia a few years ago, it was found that for every 5 kilometer per hour, increase in vehicle speed over the limit in a 60km/h zone, the risk of crashing doubles. The research explains further that a driver travelling at 70km/h faces four times the risk of a driver traveling at the speed limit. Further researches on excessive speed states that, when the stopping distance increases, other maneuvers to avoid crashes become more difficult and complicated. It states that gravity or severity of an impact or crashes increases with high speed and the possibility for other road users to communicate and perceive the intentions of the road users in time to react appropriately decreases as does the ability to detect hazards.
Excessive speed has been critical in crashes recorded over the years. Speeding is often a deliberate and calculated behavior where the drivers knows the risk but ignores the dangers that might be involved. The Corps’ major challenge will be the synergy to enforce this law on speed limiters. Speed laws have penal codes in some countries, where a dangerous or reckless drivers is either charged fines, get penalty points added to his driving license or is liable to many years in imprisonment  if found guilty. It is gladdening that the FRSC has this point system in place.
Most importantly, to achieve the goal  of tackling the speed factor through speed limiters, relevant government departments, public health, the judiciary, non-governmental organizations, security agencies, the media and motorists have roles to play. It is pertinent to note that this speed campaign was adopted by Tanzania and Kenya in 2003, Uganda in 2004 and Zambia in 2005. The examples from these Africans countries speak of success despite the initial hiccups.
 The result was a very positive impact on the country’s national economy and gross domestic products. Insurance companies subsequently reduced insurance premiums as a result of reduced accident claims while commuters enjoy safer travelling conditions. Hospitals were less crowded and could give better attention to other patients. Equally, there was reduced national health expenditures on road accident injuries, vehicles lasted longer with lower fuel consumptions due to reduced speed and there was a reduction in harmful emissions.