What should be done to safe Lagos from dangerous drivers?

Competence and certification of drivers in Nigeria has become a source of concern to individuals, road safety experts, governments and fleet operators. It is a known fact today, that most of the drivers in the country be they commercial vehicle drivers, private car owners, company vehicle drivers and school bus drivers, do not usually pass […]

Competence and certification of drivers in Nigeria has become a source of concern to individuals, road safety experts, governments and fleet operators. It is a known fact today, that most of the drivers in the country be they commercial vehicle drivers, private car owners, company vehicle drivers and school bus drivers, do not usually pass through any formal instruction before securing driver’s license.

Going by the records of ministries of transportation in Nigeria, quite a large number of drivers behind the wheels in the country today cannot read road signs, neither do they know the rules and regulations guarding driving. The resultant effect is obvious on our roads, with records of road traffic crashes on a daily basis. Uncomfortable with the rampant cases of accidents caused by the reckless driving of commercial bus drivers in Lagos, an idea of a drivers institute was conceived in 2005 during Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. Legal backing for the specialized institute was passed by the then State House of Assembly and signed into law by the former governor.

According to Professor Bamidele Badejo, Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, during the commissioning of the Ikorodu centre of LASDRI in August 2009, he said road statistics from the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), analyzed by the drivers institute, showed that Lagos recorded a total of 273 road crashes involving 478 vehicles with 52 fatalities and 268 injured in 2008.

During the same period in 2009, he said the state recorded 396 accidents, involving720 vehicles with 88 fatalities and 659 injured showing a reduction of 31.1 per cent in number of road crashes, 33.6 per cent in number of vehicles involved, 40.9 per cent in persons killed and 59.33 per cent in persons injured.

The Drivers’ Institute was approved for implementation by the state executive council in 2007 with five centres planned to be cited in Badagry, Ikorodu, Epe, Ikeja and Lagos Island. Already, the bill establishing the institute made it obligatory for drivers in Lagos to attend the training for two days, morning and afternoon, to last four hours per session.

The facility tour of the newly commissioned LASDRI centre for Epe division of the state, showed that it has capacity to train 150 drivers each day with the necessary training aids like simulators, road signs and audio-visuals. There is a clinic at the centre for the treatment of bad eye sight.

Speaking with Oodua Trust at the premises of the Epe centre, the Director of the Institute, Mr Ayodeji Oyedokun, said most drivers cannot read and understand road signs, resulting in numerous avoidable accidents and deaths.  “Some drivers have eye problems. So we have eye clinics that are manned by eye specialists who test the drivers’ eyes and give them the right glasses to correct their eye defects,” explained Oyedokun.

Oodua Trust observed that it may be for this reason that the state government incorporated road signs in the training scheme, using audio-visuals, so much that even the walls in the lecture rooms and fence are all emblazoned with road signs and drawings.

The director said he could not ascertain the number of private drivers in Lagos state but explained that the number of commercial drivers in the state is between 900,000 and one million. He added that the institute had started operating since 2008, noting that the five centres would be expanded in future in order to cater for the driving needs of numerous drivers in Lagos.

While stressing that the institute will likely include testing of blood pressure to the eye, he assured that films would be used to teachthe drivers while a card would be issued at the end of the two day training to successful drivers. He therefore called on drivers in Lagos to utilize the opportunity given by LASDRI to get trained, using the modern techniques.  “No matter how long they (the drivers) think they have been driving, they should come to the institute and learn the modern techniques of driving for their safety and the safety of others,” Oyedokun said.

Oyedokun explained further that LASDRI had started the re-training, first with company drivers, government drivers and the drivers of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW). Although he did not give the exact date as the deadline for all drivers in Lagos to get recertified, he however declared that it is the response of the drivers that will determine the deadline.

On what would be the fate of drivers from other parts of the country who would be entering Lagos for one thing or the other, Oyedokun said that if a visiting driver commits a traffic offence and is arrested by LASTMA men, such a driver must pass the driving test of the institute before he could be allowed to go.

The LASDRI boss frowned at the numerous bad habits of drivers in Lagos which often results in deaths and or injuries. He insisted that drivers in Lagos must be retrained irrespective of years they have been driving.

He lamented that trailer drivers have caused series of road accidents in Lagos, noting that this category of drivers need to attend the driving institute to learn modern techniques of driving instead of learning driving on the highway. He said investigations by the institute have shown that trailer drivers used to teach their boys how to drive by leaving the steering for them on the highway until such apprentices finally emerged behind the wheel one day as a driver. “Effects of this trend is accidents and loss of lives,” he declared.

Corroborating Oyedokun’s explanation, the Special Adviser to Governor Babatunde Fashola, Mr Kayode Opeifa, said the Drivers Institute was built in various parts of Lagos state for the safety and security of lives on Lagos roads.

On whether there is penalty for drivers who refuse to undergo the required training,

Opeifa said: “For those who do not comply, I believe the law is there to take its course. But this is not about penalty; it is about compliance; it is about safety and security on our roads. We are not placing emphasis on penalty; our concern is compliance and we would do everything through engagement, public education and enlightenment.”

The Special Adviser added that the Drivers Institute is also part of the state government’s Transport sector reform programme, adding that some of that reform could be seen in the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), LAGBUS, Bus Franchise Scheme and ferry services.