We need discipline on our roads
Driving on the country’s roads has become a hellish experience for its attendant high incidence of crashes, because of the lack of discipline on the part of some drivers.
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Although some private vehicle drivers fall foul of indiscipline on our roads, commercial drivers, made up of trotro and taxi drivers, are the worst offenders.
Not a day passes without a commercial driver disregarding road signs, stopping in the middle of the road to pick up passengers, jumping the red light, driving on the shoulders of the road, or veering into a main road without watching for oncoming vehicles.
For the average driver on our roads, amber means speed up other than slow down, while zebra crossings are totally disregarded — to most drivers, stopping at a crossing is a favour done to a pedestrian.
Commercial drivers have arrogated to themselves the title of masters of the road, behaving as though they were the most experienced and dexterous drivers or that the roads were constructed solely for them.
They, therefore, employ all kinds of inconsiderate and bad driving on our roads without thinking about other users. Any attempt by another road user to point out their bad driving skills is met with insults and shouts of “too known”.
Such has become the order of the day that instead of having an orderly flow of traffic, our city roads have become notorious for unending traffic jams, which have been largely caused by the indiscipline of commercial vehicle drivers.
The law of the jungle, where it is only the strong and brutish that survive, has unfortunately become the norm other than the exception on our roads, with the police stationed at major intersections sometimes looking on in helpless amazement.
Another menace that has crept onto our roads is the danger posed by motor riders, who behave as though the traffic signs and lights are only meant for vehicles. They ride across intersections and junctions without observing traffic signs.
The riders also disregard the direction of road traffic wardens and move on even when flagged to stop for pedestrians and other road users.
Motor riders have increased in number due to the illegal use of motorbikes for ‘okada’ or public transport, thus putting the lives of pedestrians, drivers and even traffic wardens in danger.
In other countries such as Togo, Nigeria and Mali, where motorbike transport has been legalised, the riders observe all the road signs, including traffic lights and obey the direction of traffic policemen or wardens.
We acknowledge that policemen from the Motor Transport and Traffic Department (MTTD) are sometimes positioned at vantage points to check recalcitrant drivers and motor riders. We nonetheless ask that they do more than just checking licences, roadworthy certificates, insurance stickers, triangles and other car accessories.
We believe that it is time to bring dangerous drivers on our roads to book to preserve lives and property. We need a better system to follow up on reports from the general public on drink-driving and other dangerous behaviour by drivers on the roads.
Lives once lost cannot be redeemed. We, therefore, urge the MTTD and city authorities to put in measures to rid our roads of killer drivers and riders.