Benjamin Omoike I Tuesday, April 17, 2018
IKEJA, Lagos, Nigeria – Human error and indiscipline on the part of some drivers have been identified as two main reasons for automobile crashes on Lagos roads. This had resulted in 827 road traffic crashes involving 2,372 vehicles in 2017 alone. Making this assertion on Tuesday in Alausa, Ikeja, Commissioner for Transport in the state, Ladi Lawanson, said his Ministry was working round the clock with relevant agencies to ensure that the untoward incidents were nipped in the bud.
“As always human error especially, indiscipline, was identified as the single most frequent reason for road accidents. 827 road traffic crashes involving 2,372 vehicles comprised of 163 motorcycles, 101 tricycles, 1,686 cars, 853 buses, 196 jeeps, 476 trucks, 256 trailers, 85 containerized trailers and 82 tankers were recorded leading to 1,250 casualties.
“Consequent upon the crashes, 54 male adults, 21 female adults, one male child and five female children lost their lives in the crash during the period under review. 686 male adults, 416 female adults, 44 male children and 29 female children received various degrees of injuries in the crashes,” Lawanson said.
He said further analysis showed that 61 of the crashes were fatal, 484 serious and 1,827 minor. The Commissioner added that analysis of the vehicle ownership revealed that 1,864 private, 2,024 commercials and 11 government vehicles were involved in the accidents. He equally stressed that human, mechanical and environmental factors accounted for a total number of 1,181, 754 and 437 crashes respectively.
“The State Road Traffic Law categorises violations as License Condition General (LCG01-13), License Condition Commercial (LCC 01-07), Traffic Signs and Markings (TSM 01-08), Vehicles Defect (VDF 01-04), Motorcycle Riders (MCL 01-13) and Miscellaneous Traffic Fines (MTF 01-20). A total of 8,539 road traffic law violations were observed during the period under review.
“Of these categories, LCG recorded a total of 77 violations with LCG 01 (driving without valid driver’s license) being the most often violated offence recording (27) in that category, LCC recorded a total of 387 with LCC 02 (Not painting a commercial vehicle in approved colour) being the most violated offence with 181 offences. TSM recorded a total of 3,049 with TSM 03 (Disobeying traffic control personnel) being the leading violated offence claiming 1,631. VDF recorded a total of 3 which is attributed to VDF 02 (driving vehicle with non-functional lamp), ALD recorded only 1 offence, MCL recorded102 with MCL 01 (Riding motorcycle without crash helmet for rider) being the most frequently violated offence recording 54 offences while MTF recorded 4,743 with MTF 08 (picking or dropping passenger by commercial vehicles on the highway) being the topmost offence committed with a record of 1,318,” he said.
Lawanson added that 7,419 vehicles made up of 2,721 private and 4,698 commercial vehicles were impounded, 399 private and 499 commercial, making 898 vehicles were towed while 2,323 private, 4,198 commercial vehicles were driven to into their Removal Yards.
“During period under review the Legal department handled 121 cases in several courts both at the State and Federal levels. Of these, 38 cases were referred to the High Courts/Court of Appeal out of which judgment was delivered in favour of LASTMA in five cases. 33 cases were handled by Magistrate courts, these include assault cases, only four cases were concluded with prescribed fine paid and vehicles released accordingly. The Provost Unit also treated 141 complaints/petitions. 19 of the cases were waived after successful investigation, 26 were considered for review and as such their tickets were re-issued while 96 cases were rejected after proper investigation,” he said.
He stressed that being the first step towards safety on the roads, a competent driver on the wheels is sine qua non to the safety of the commuting public. He stressed that as a responsible and responsive administration, the government had taken driver training, which is done through the state Drivers’ Training Institute, as a major rampart in the safety of the commuting public.
