Road Safety: Between Prayers and Behavioral Change

About this time 5years ago, I met with my cousin Chukwuma who had just started his business after 7 years of apprenticeship. He had his goods on a mobile truck which he pushed round the streets of Ibadan to make a living. Then I was in my final year in medical school. Chukwuma and I grew up together and I had wished he was in school like me. We shared ideas on how he can grow his business and get a shop. I was looking forward to when I would graduate and make some money to be able to assist him raise some capital. Later that month, he travelled home for the Christmas holiday. On his way back to Ibadan, he died in a road traffic accident alongside other 18 passengers on board a commercial bus. May his soul continue to rest in peace.

What could have led to the accident? Could it have been due to bad road network, bad weather, vehicular technical problem or over-speeding, drunk-driving, or other practices that violate of traffic regulations? Could it have been caused by evil spirits (the usual culprit in sad events with unfound causes or with causes we refuse to accept)?  I don’t really know; but must have been due to at least one of the above. Most of the roads across the country are in deplorable conditions, the level of indiscipline among road users is terribly high while the ineptitude or endemic corruption among the enforcers of traffic regulations remains unacceptably high.

Before my cousin’s demise, I’ve seen many victims of the daily carnage along Lagos-Ibadan expressway being treated at the University College Hospital, Ibadan. Besides, I’ve also been involved in at least 4 road accidents in commercial vehicles (along Lagos-Ibadan, Abakaliki-Enugu, Asaba-Benin and Abuja-Lokoja roads); thankfully, I left unhurt unlike many other co-passengers. The major problem here, in my opinion, is not lack of knowledge about the causes of the road accidents but the lack of will by individuals to adopt favorable behavioral changes. Politicians have continued to award road contracts with poor or no execution. The system is not also doing enough to enforce the existing regulations. Many people hold on to this assumption that most road crashes are caused by evil spirits or “enemies” and consequently fail to take preventive measures seriously. That’s absolutely ridiculous.

I believe in the existence of spirits – good and bad, I also believe in the power of prayers; but I do not agree that prayers alone will provide the solution to accident-related morbidities and moralities. Even the bible said that “prayer without work is dead” Prayers are not lacking in Nigeria, what is lacking is the “work” component. The Federal Road Safety Commission has improved in recent times as has made good safety policies like use of helmet, seatbelt, compliance with traffic regulations, etc. However, according to Road Safety Report of 2010 by World Health Organization, helmet wearing rate in Nigeria is less than five percent and more than 50 percent in Chad. It might interest you to know that in more pedestrians, bicycle and tricycle vehicles users die from road accidents than users of other vehicles. I think road safety did a lot in publicizing the laws, the people need to change their behaviours, the enforcement agents need to step up and deal decisively with identified violators in line with the provisions of the law.

Road traffic accidents is one of the leading causes of death among people aged 15 to 49, the most productive age group in the country. Sadly, Nigeria has not prioritized investment in the improvement of road safety. The people themselves have jaundiced assumptions on the causes and required solutions to it.  If it’s all about evil spirits, the prayers said daily in motor parks, churches, mosques, shrines, etc would have stopped road accidents. As we continue to pray, let drivers stop getting intoxicated with local kparaga before hitting the roads, let all road users observe traffic regulations (many Nigerian road users don’t even know them), let the government at all levels make our roads smooth, wide and usable,  let FRSC sanitize itself and give drivers license only to those who have adequate knowledge of road traffic laws and good driving skills, let the police enforce the law especially in all traffic offences, let the government strengthen the medical emergency system to effectively attend to people who may inevitably be involved in accidents and let every individual resolve to be law-abiding.

 As people travel to different parts of the country to spend the Christmas holiday with their loved ones, it is my hope that compatriots will drive carefully so as to reach home alive and safe. Prayer only is not enough, act right!