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UN Decade of Action: Stakeholders harp on enforcement, education to reduce road accidents

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Some stakeholders in transport on Thursday canvassed increased enforcement of traffic laws and education of road users to reduce road accidents and resultant deaths.

The stakeholders spoke during an online meeting organised by National Drivers’ Merit Awards (NDMA).

The meeting was monitored by the Newsmen in Lagos.

The two-day online meeting, which commenced on Wednesday, was organised to celebrate the end of the first UN Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011–2020).

The decade ended in the midst of a global pandemic, making the Road Safety Week and other activities to be overtaken by the health crisis.

The online meeting was tagged: ‘’An X-Ray of the Decade of Action on Road Safety in Nigeria’’.

The meeting, moderated by Mr Ike Okonkwo and Mrs Bola Edwards, featured talks on: ‘Appraising the Decade of Action (2011-2020)’, ‘Data Integrity: A panacea for Effective Road Safety Management in Nigeria’ and ‘Road Safety Enforcement and Road Safety Education on a Scale’.

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Mr Hyginus Omeje, the Lagos State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), said at the meeting that enforcement and advocacies remained key in achieving the UN Action Plan of 50 per cent reduction in road accidents.

Omeje, who called on various state governments to institute viable traffic management agencies, said that road safety required strategic documents, training, right funding and personnel.

“How many state governments or local governments in Nigeria train their drivers annually?

“UN Decade of Action on Road Safety needs the commitment of all; there is a need for private participation, also.

“We must engender safety right from the inside. Before fleet operators will operate, a lot of things must have been done (on drivers and vehicles).

“We need increased road safety education and culture,” he said.

The FRSC boss, who called for national transport policy, said that one of the reasons why motorists disregarded traffic laws was meagre penalties for offenders.

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Another speaker, Dr Charles Asenime of the School of Transport, Lagos State University, attributed the slow reduction in Road Traffic Crashes (RTC) to poor driving attitude and underfunding of road infrastructure, among other factors.

Asenime also listed the factors to include low enforcement and a depressed economy which forced motorists to patronise substandard spare parts for vehicle maintenance.

He decried lack of road safety education in primary to secondary schools, poor established driving schools and lack of modern teaching equipment such as traffic signal simulations in many driving schools.

The Executive Secretary of the Transportation Growth Initiative (TGI), Dr Adeyemi Omidiji, said that driving culture in the country was dangerous.

He added that many road users could not interpret road signs.

“Enforcement and prosecution have impacted positively in changing behaviour pattern of motorists, thereby reducing the rate of RTC across the country,” he, however, said.

A discussant, Mr Hafis Toriola, Director, Transport Operations, Lagos State Ministry of Transportation, said that enforcement and education were very key to road safety.

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Toriola said that education would lead to voluntary compliance by motorists.

Another discussant, Dr Tolulope Olufunlayo, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Community Health and Primary Care, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, called for community engagement in road safety education and risk assessment.

Reports have it that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognises that road safety is a prerequisite to ensuring healthy lives, promoting wellbeing and making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

The Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020, officially proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in March 2010, seeks to save millions of lives by building road safety management capacity.

It also seeks to improve the safety of road infrastructure, enhance the behaviour of road users and improve post-crash response.

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