Night journeys are dangerous in the face of the season, bad roads and criminal elements

Due to the growing risks, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has warned motorists in the country against night travel, especially during the ongoing rainy season. The Enugu State Sector Command of FRSC, Joseph Toby, advised travellers and motorists that convey people to far distances to always make plans and “set off on the journey at dawn”, as well as put their vehicles in good working condition ahead of their trips. “At times, due to windstorms before rainfall, a tree can fall on the road, if a driver is on speed, it will take the grace of God for the driver to spot the fallen tree in good time,” Toby said. “Apart from these, the force of nature can make the driver doze off and lose control, as well as the activities of men-of-the-underworld.”

We agree with Toby. It goes without saying that every driver faces over 70% less visibility and extremely high risk of accidents by the mere fact of travelling at night. Oncoming vehicles present dangers either from the inability to correctly assess the intervening distance, or simply from the glare of headlamps that may impair proper object identification. Except for frequent users of a route, road bumps and bad spots will not be detected on time and even frequent users often do not fare much better at night. Bends are a nightmare and may sometimes be seen only when it is too late to make a smooth turn.

Noting these clear dangers and taking precautions when travelling at night will ameliorate these dangers. But that is not all. No amount of care by a driver can fix a bad road or fill gaping potholes on a highly travelled highway. Our roads are bad and getting worse by the day. Meanwhile, death toll on the road keeps rising. The effectiveness and relevance of security patrols on our highways is something else. Over 80% of the check points that sometimes delay travellers during the day, because they are ostensibly set up to identify and stop felons, disappear by nightfall. The few left are either lit up by bonfires while the security men sleep in their packed vehicles, or they are so far between on the long stretch of road as to serve as any deterrent to aspiring mischief makers. In the end, security is not provided for the citizenry and the interest of the nation is not served.

But the matter of effective patrols must also be viewed by asking whether the Nigeria Police functions as an operations and logistics savvy organisation. It does not. Personnel have been known to be on their beats without relief duty for days, and sometimes weeks. Equipment is obsolete and patrol vehicles are barely mobile, often not able to give a healthy turtle a good chase. Even military firepower falls far short of the vastly superior capabilities of the felons on our roads. Notwithstanding, the police have a job and a duty and should address its personnel and institutional challenges and conduct itself with greater sense of responsibility.

Transport owners should also pay closer attention to the behaviour of their drivers, particularly their night drivers. Many of them are known to live by the maxim: “It is only after you have filled your head with something hot to confront the forces of the night that you can fill your fuel tank and commence a night trip”. Such a practice is clearly unacceptable. We therefore urge the FRSC to intensify its road user education programme while transport owners and the security agencies must rise to the challenge of meeting the legitimate expectations of Nigerian road users about their safety.

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