The Sunday, March 6, 2016 ghastly road accident that claimed the lives of the Minister of State for Labour, Chief James Ocholi (SAN), his wife and son, was another instance of avoidable deaths on our highways. Taiwo James Elegbede, the driver of the ill-fated Lexus sports utility vehicle, died in a hospital the following day. The fatal car crash which occurred along Kaduna-Abuja road was attributed to over-speeding.

The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Road Traffic Crash Investigation Interim Report identified the cause of the accident as excessive speeding and hard slam on the brake following the burst of the left rear tyre. The FRSC report also indicated that failure to use the vehicle’s back seat belt contributed to Ocholi and his son’s death. The tragic loss of a cerebral lawyer in a road disaster barely four months after he assumed public office has thrown up fundamental issues of safety on our roads.

Government vehicles, particularly those attached to top functionaries, are often guilty of road use violations that result in some of the carnages. Often, siren-blaring convoys of governors, senators, ministers and other political officeholders travel at break-neck speeds that sometimes result in fatal accidents.

The terrible state of most roads and highways has turned some of them to death traps. Most of the mishaps tell something about the drivers’ suitability for the job. It was not a surprise when the FRSC said it would prosecute Ocholi’s driver for not possessing driver’s license. The question is, why would a driver be employed to drive a minister if his papers and credentials were not up to date? Why would such drivers be employed as part of a ministry’s pool? Obviously, some people somewhere are not doing their job.

We strongly support the Commission’s recommendation that a certification and recertification of convoy drivers every two years after issuance of drivers licence should be put in place. We further recommend that this should be extended to private and commercial vehicle drivers. This would enable the Commission to determine those who are no longer fit to continue driving.

We advocate a more strenuous public enlightenment media campaign to sensitise the general populace – even the non-driving public – on the benefits of respecting road safety rules. The efforts of the FRSC in this direction are grossly inadequate. The Commission should not be left to handle public sensitisation alone. The mass media and social advocacy groups should also contribute as part of their social responsibility functions.

Road safety awareness is a very important component of efforts to reduce the carnage on our roads, and we encourage everyone to play their roles in promoting it, right from our homes and in schools nationwide.