The psychology and intelligence of driving according to Apata

Writing a book on driving is always a complex project. It requires a level of expertise and experience as well as a look at the psychological and administrative issues related to driving. That was the difficult task Tunde Kehinde Apata attempted in his book, Principles of Driving Intelligence. The author had the relevant qualification to […]

Writing a book on driving is always a complex project. It requires a level of expertise and experience as well as a look at the psychological and administrative issues related to driving. That was the difficult task Tunde Kehinde Apata attempted in his book, Principles of Driving Intelligence.

The author had the relevant qualification to attempt such an ambitious project.  He is an Assistant Road Commander with the Federal Road Safety Corp, FRSC. This gives him the necessary technical know-how and administrative background to tackle issues related to driving on Nigerian roads. And his masters in Managerial Psychology as well as his working knowledge of Nigerian drivers and their peculiarities puts him in a position to write an effective manual on driving intelligence.

At first glance, the term ‘driving intelligence’ may appear ambiguous to a casual browser but the author explains it as the aspect of intelligence that “ha[s] the capacity of streamlining, controlling and managing a person’s feeling in relation to that of other person[s] in order to cope with the pressure and environmental demands of the road for the purpose of safety.”

The book contains practical advices on how to drive and the psychology behind it. It presents, in one instance, the steps involved from opening a car door to bringing the car to a halt, but this does not by any means imply that the book is for novices. Experienced drivers will benefit from the author’s practical advices, one of the most striking being: “Drive defensively and consider other road users as mad.”

He also took time to add ‘words on marble’, some quotes at the beginning of every chapter that are supposed to be catchy. Some of them actually are. His 12 chapters touch on a range of issues from defensive driving, journey management to vehicle security among others, all of them aimed at improving driving skills and improved safety on Nigerian roads.

Apata brings his experience in the FRSC to bear and gives readers some insights into road administration and safety issues from an official perspective, but honestly, he could have done better toning down the PR for his employers.

This also raises certain concerns in the book such as his practice of listing items rather than explaining them comprehensively. This could have been improved upon by citing instances and experiences of other road users. Such cases abound in the archives and it is something he could have acquired talking to people, especially in his position with the FRSC. These experiences could have made the book more interesting and rewarding for the reader.

And of course there is the unforgivable abuse of language, mixing up tenses verb confusion and the likes. This expression “…it is an offence to drink under the influence of alcohol” (p31) is one example that could have been corrected if time had been taken in editing the work. Subsequent editions of the book do need thorough and competent editing.

But these notwithstanding, Apata’s book touches on a wide range of issues that benefit the road users in any guise, from the pedestrian, the driver, car owners and commercial fleet owners and even regulatory agencies. It is a book that might just help save one’s life.