‘Traffic gridlock costs Lagosians N60bn annually in fuel consumption’
It has been estimated that motorists in Lagos lose N60 billion annually on fuel consumption occasioned by traffic gridlock.
A Safety Expert and Director of Advocacy, Safety Beyond Borders, Mr. Patrick Adenusi, said the gridlock has been worsened by road indiscipline on major highways in the state.
He observed that 90 per cent of road traffic incidents were caused by human errors like fatigue, drunk driving and others.
He stated this in a paper on ‘Road User Attitude: Cost and Effect’, delivered at the fourth annual training and capacity building organised by Nigeria Auto Journalists Association (NAJA) in Lagos.
Adenusi in his statistics, said motorists in the state, numbering about 500,000, spend an average of N500 each on fuel consumption daily due to high vehicular traffic on the road, which amounted to N250 million daily.
The statistics further revealed that the sum of N1.25bn was wasted weekly by motorists, which amounted to N5bn monthly.
With this, he said vehicle drivers expend additional N60bn annually on fuel consumption which, he added would have been saved if the roads were freer with all the attendant risks removed.
He said other means of transportation must be introduced as road transport accounts for 90 per cent of transportation in Nigeria.
Lead Technical Support, Eterna Oil Plc’s Oluwaseun Mendes, who spoke on car lubricants, urged motorists to use only lubricants approved by the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in servicing their vehicles. He said this is imperative to improve the engine performance and boost the lifespan.
He said using the right engine oil recommended by the OEMs would also reduce fuel consumption.
He advised that with the traffic gridlock in Lagos which exposes vehicles to high temperature, motorists should reduce the time they service their vehicles.
Menses said: “Why not change the oil more frequent than advised? Oil hates temperature and you are exposed to excessive temperature while in traffic. In this case, you have to change your oil as frequent as possible.”