Menace of tanker/ trailer drivers
Last week the federal government directed relevant agencies to ensure that tankers and trailers which do not comply with minimum safety measures are prevented from plying our highways. The call was made at a Stakeholders’ Forum on Haulage Transportation in Nigeria convened by Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha. The forum deliberated on rising cases of road traffic crashes involving tankers/ trailers in the country and its effect on human lives and property.
The SGF said the summit stemmed from “the deep concern of the federal government on the rising spate of road traffic crashes involving articulated vehicles in recent times and high casualty in both human and material resources.” The call came even as the Lagos State government accused the Nigeria Ports Authority [NPA] and the Nigeria Shippers Council of conspiracy on enforcing regulations on the stipulated tonnage allowed by tankers/ trailers. These calls and accusations came in the wake of a terrible accident which occurred around the Otedola Jubilee Estate on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, in which several lives were lost, many people sustained injuries and many cars were burnt.
It is unfortunate that in 2018, we are still battling with this problem. It is common knowledge that many of the accidents on our roads are caused by trailers and tankers which flagrantly disobey traffic rules. Often times, they take advantage of their size to intimidate smaller vehicles on the highways. Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps [FRSC] Boboye Oyeyemi said the country lost N7.1 billion to road traffic crashes involving tankers in the first quarter of 2018. It is disheartening that despite the laws/ regulations guiding the their operation, we still have deaths occurring from accidents involving tankers/trailers.
At this point in the nation’s history, we shouldn’t have been talking about problems of tankers/trailers causing accidents on our roads. Are trailer/tanker drivers too difficult to handle or is it that those who are supposed to do this job are not doing it? If only violators of traffic laws are adequately punished, other drivers would be deterred from doing the same thing. There is no need for a summit on trailer/tanker issue in Nigeria. Meetings have been held many times but nothing came out of them. Till date, we still have tankers/trailers parked by the road side even where there are designated parks for them. In some cases, the vehicles are parked along the road not too far from their designated parks. This is the height of impunity and it must stop.
FRSC should ensure that anyone found wanting is made to face the law. Some drivers have complained of lack of facilities at the parks. Efforts should be made to make the parks conducive. Traffic rules violation is a serious offence and it should be treated as such. Also, it is appalling that the narrow streets that small vehicles are made to navigate through are the same ones the trailers/tankers use. Even if the country cannot provide separate routes for them, there is a need to regulate their movements. Trailers should not be on the road during rush hours.
The casualty figure in the recent Lagos incident would not have been so high if the tanker was not on the road at that busy hour when workers were returning home from work. Also, it is worthy of note that the acccident occurred because of brake failure. That is a wake-up call to Vehicle Inspection Officers [VIOs] in the country. Vehicles should be inspected periodically and those that are not roadworthy should be taken off the roads. They should also check for underage drivers. Furthermore, it is now common sight to see trailers overloaded with Premium Motor Spirit on the highways, with some of them spilling their contents as they move on. This poses grave danger to road users. We do not even need new laws/rules to check the activities of tanker/trailer drivers. If the existing laws are properly enforced, our roads will be safer and lives and property would be preserved.