Still on traffic law violation

By the turn of the first quarter of last year or thereabouts, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) announced that it would subject traffic law offenders to psychiatric tests effective from July 1, 2017.
The decision was to compel road users to imbibe the culture of discipline on the highway.
Corps Marshall of the FRSC, Dr.
Boboye Oyeyemi, who made the announcement while addressing the opening ceremony of a five-day training programme for 22 officials of the corps on traffic safety for non-motorised transportation in Abuja, said that the exercise would focus on four key areas of violations which were: use of phone while driving, traffic light and route violations and dangerous driving.
He noted that the initiative was necessitated by continued violations in the identified areas despite efforts by the corps to change the attitude of road users through education and enforcement.
The FRSC helmsman had said: “I think it is an act of irresponsibility for someone to be driving and using phone or for a traffic light to stop you and you are jumping line.
“It means something is wrong with your mental faculty.
So, there is need to examine this, to really check whether you are fit to drive, whether you have the mental capability.” Oyeyemi said the offender would bear the cost of the test as well as pay the stipulated fines.
And if it is confirmed that the violator is fit, he would undergo a retraining programme in addition to paying the fines.
He, however, stressed that the purpose of the mental examination was not to generate revenue but engender attitudinal change, arguing “we cannot continue to be having fatal crashes due to traffic light violations.
I think it is crass irresponsibility.” He further stated that the corps was empowered by its enabling Act to carry out the proposed tests.
In our previous editorials, we had stated that more than 75 per cent of the accidents on our roads were caused by human factors.
The four key causes identified by the FRSC are, however, prevalent in the towns, cities and semi-urban centres.
The sight of motorists making or answering calls behind the wheels is quite common.
Rather than ignoring the calls if they are not sure the environment is suitable to park and answer them, all that the receivers do is to survey the road to ensure the FRSC officials are not in sight.
Once the coast is clear, they respond to the calls while driving.
Some motorists even go to the extent of text messaging while driving.
This divided attention has led to many fatal accidents involving innocent fellow motorists and pedestrians.
There have been instances where shocking news were received behind the wheels, leading to loss of control and eventual crash.
Traffic light violations are also very common.
Many motorists are so impatient that the sight of red lights is seen as an inferior order to be ignored.
Consequently, they beat the red lights and these oftentimes lead to crashes.
Also guilty of this dangerous practice are law enforcement officers.
In fact, they are the worst examples of traffic light violators.
They hardly obey the red lights in the belief that they are meant for civilian motorists.
The VIPs also encourage this act of lawlessness.
Their convoys have no regard whatsoever especially for traffic lights which they freely beat.
Dangerous driving such as moving against traffic is still prevalent among commercial and private motorists.
Those of them with invalid papers fleeing on suddenly sighting officials of the FRSC or VIOs indulge in this risky habit without a second thought and regardless of the danger they constitute to those they drive against.
Commercial motorcyclists are another category of notorious traffic light violators.
Most of them do not believe that traffic laws are meant for them.
They are a menace that sees traffic law violation as a much loved pastime.
However, about a year after the measures came into effect, the situation all over the country has not changed.
Motorists still flout the laid-down rules with impunity.
Phone-driving, beating of red lights, driving against the traffic, picking and dropping of passengers carelessly at wrong places without any regard for the safety of other road users are still persisting.
Perhaps, the FRSC personnel are carrying out the enforcement desultorily coupled with compromising their position, hence the situation has remained unchanged a year after.
The FRSC should not accept the dangerous state of affairs as fait accompli.
It has a responsibility to safeguard the lives of Nigerian road users as a matter of corporate responsibility.
It must be seen to carry out whatever tasks it has set for itself without any fear or favour.
Condign sanctions should be meted out to traffic violators as deterrent to those whose second nature is to observe traffic regulations in the breach.