Impounding rickety vehicles

Corp Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps Mr Boboye Oyeyemi recently ordered the impounding of all rickety trucks plying the nation’s roads. He spoke at a one-day workshop for depot and tank farm owners tagged “Safe-To-Load.” It was aimed at ensuring that all trucks meet minimum safety standards. Road safety experts say non-roadworthy vehicles […]

Corp Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps Mr Boboye Oyeyemi recently ordered the impounding of all rickety trucks plying the nation’s roads. He spoke at a one-day workshop for depot and tank farm owners tagged “Safe-To-Load.” It was aimed at ensuring that all trucks meet minimum safety standards. Road safety experts say non-roadworthy vehicles constitute the highest danger to road users, with rickety vehicles being more prone to accidents than properly-maintained ones.
Hardly a week passes without a rickety truck falling on the road. These accidents are due both to the bad state of the roads and the rickety nature of these trucks. However, National President of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) Chief Remi Ogungbemi ruled out the total eradication of rickety vehicles from the roads. He said most vehicles, especially trucks imported for sale, are over 30 to 40 years old, while some imported smaller capacity vehicles are between 10 and 20 years old. He instead urged government to check extortion by traffic control agents, saying “due to multiple extortion, money which should be used to maintain trucks and make them roadworthy are collected by different traffic officers.”
 Much as the move to eradicate un-roadworthy vehicles should be supported by all, government should clearly define the rules and not hide behind opaque rules to inordinately generate revenue. Government should state whether the disproportionately heavy fines for minor traffic offences is a means of protecting lives and property or simply a means of generating revenue. Secretary of Allied Trucks Transporters Association of Nigeria (ATTAN) Azeez Gbenro Lawal has called for a review of such policies which in his opinion are “killing the trucking business.” He condemned the policy where the owner of a broken-down truck is forced to pay a N100,000 tow fine before finding money to repair the vehicle. He said truck owners should be encouraged to be in business, and traffic authorities should see themselves as business facilitators and not revenue generators.
 Although government seems committed to ridding the roads of rickety vehicles, some stakeholders say it should not just wield the big stick. The absence of an effective and efficient public transportation system makes every Nigerian to wish to own a car, no matter how rickety. Most vehicles plying our roads were brought into the country in rickety condition. We should ban the importation of such vehicles. The nation has admittedly moved slightly ahead since the beginning of the new millennium, when rickety vehicles dominated the roads. Recent research has shown that two of every five vehicles on the road today are either rickety or in dire need of routine maintenance.
 Although most vehicle owners know what to do and when to check their vehicles, the problem is that due to financial pressure vehicle owners continue to “manage.” There should be no economic excuses for allowing a rickety vehicle to be on the road because a premium cannot be placed on life or environmental health. True, it is difficult to have only standard modern vehicles in a depressed economy like ours, where owners can only afford second hand vehicles but we should regulate their importation and insist on their regular maintenance.
 The deplorable state of most of our roads should be simultaneously addressed because it is a factor in the rapid depreciation of vehicles. All vehicles have a lifespan and only regular maintenance can ensure that they are durable and functional. In addition to accidents there are also health hazards caused by emissions from rickety vehicles, which lead to respiratory infections of the throats and lungs. Due to global warming the atmosphere is heating up and carbon emission from such vehicles contributes greatly to this. Daily routine checks, immediate fixing of defects and preventive maintenance are all vital to ensure vehicles are roadworthy at all times.