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Tag: Drivers

  • 30 percent of truck drivers in Nigeria failed vision test

    30 percent of truck drivers in Nigeria failed vision test

    About 30 per cent of truck drivers in Nigeria have failed vision tests conducted by the Federal Road Safety Commission.

    Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, the commission’s CEO and Corps Marshal made this known at the 2020 Truck Renewal Conference in Abuja on Thursday.

    The conference with the theme: ‘Truck Renewal System: Ensuring Road Transportation Safety’ was jointly organised by the Major oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAM), and Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO).

    He said many truck drivers have eyesight challenges.

    This made it dangerous for them to drive at night.

    Boboye describing most of the drivers as“ lawless”.

    He said that most of the trucks plying the road did not operate with the minimal safety standard which, according to him, had contributed to the cause of many road accidents.

    “We need to take action; 30 per cent of drivers failed the vision tests we conducted. I commend MOMAN because most of its members comply to minimal safety standards but the others are yet to do so.

    “ Most of the trucks on our highways do not have safety valves, we must enforce the law of no safety valves, no loading of products .

    “Just yesterday, a whole family was wiped off to an accident caused by a truck with petrol in Felele Lokoja; this is avoidable if the minimal safety measures were adhered to.

    “This is the time to stop all the talk shop and swing into action to avoid the reoccurrence of these on our roads,” he said.

    Oyeyemi said that MOMAN and NARTO with the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) should join forces in ensuring that drivers complied with the rules and regulation of traffic while driving their trucks.

    The FRSC boss commended the effort of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration at reviving the rail system, saying that it would help to reduce the over reliance on the road for haulage of Petroleum products.

    “If the rail is functioning well, pressure will reduce on the road,” he added.

    He called for full auditing of trucks and installation of safety valves on the trucks before using them on the road.

    “MOMAN and NARTO must train and retrain their members, and DPR needs to begin recertification to help reduce crashes on the road.

    “The level of lawlessness is high on the side of the drivers, we witness average of 90 deaths per week in the country,” he added.

    MOMAN Chairman, Adetunji Oyebanji described the theme of the Conference as “apt” judging by the situation of safety in transportation value chain in the country.

    He said that globally, products were transported through the pipelines but that had stopped over the years in Nigeria due to lack of integrity.

    He said that about 10,000 trucks move from south to northern part of the country with about 80 per cent without skid, automatic breaks and other equipment needed for safety.

    “ MOMAN is working to ensure replacement of trucks that do not meet safety requirements. We are here today to discuss framework on truck renewal.

    “ NARTO and MOMAN believe that safety of the road is possible, we will collaborate with FRSC to ensure training of drivers,” he said.

    He called on marketers to ensure efficiency in product delivery adding that efficiency will help marketers to remain afloat with the deregulation of the downstream oil sector.

    Also, minister of state for Transportation Gbemisola Saraki called for adherence to safety measures on the road.

    She said that most of the accident on the road were caused by human factor such as using the mobile phone while driving, dangerous driving style, over speeding among others.

    “Road crash is an epidemic in Nigeria and has caused more deaths than diseases. It can be avoided if drivers can be disciplined,” she said.

    Represented by Mrs Angela Keyede, Assistant Director, Transport, she said that Government had embarked on road rehabilitation to address some of the challenges.

    “Government is also reviving the rails but I urge you to ensure replacement of old trucks with modern trucks to reduce dangers of crashes on our roads,” she added.

    The National president of NARTO, Alhaji Yusuf Othman, said the group remained relevant in the supply chain of petroleum products in the country.

    He said that nearly 58 million litres of petrol consumed on daily basis in the country were transported by its members, adding that government had yet to make policies to attract investment to the sector.

    He assured that its members would comply with the safety measures so as to reduce the number of road crashes in the country.

  • Petrol tanker drivers begin strike

    Petrol tanker drivers begin strike

    Tanker drivers on Tuesday embark on strike due to what they called some unfavourable conditions affecting their operations in the state.

    Tayo Aboyeji, Chairman, National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, Lagos Zonal Council, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that all the tanker drivers had been turned back to their respective stations.

    Aboyeji said the strike was necessitated by the fact that trucks were not able to access tank farms due to the activities of other articulated vehicles.

    He said: “Tankers were directed to come to the tank farms by 10am daily by the Presidential Task Force, but even when we comply, the road is usually not accessible.

    “Drivers are harassed by area boys (miscreants) who dispose them of their money or leave them maimed while waiting to access the farms.”

    Aboyeji also decried the deplorable conditions of Lagos roads, saying this had caused most of the accidents involving trucks.

    “We are fed up with this great loss; the union is calling on government to fix the roads,” the NUPENG chief said.

    He said the strike would continue until solutions were proffered to the problems.

  • FRSC sends 7,000 Nigerian drivers for psychiatric tests

    Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on Tuesday said that over 7,000 traffic offenders have gone through psychiatrist tests since 2017.

    The FRSC FCT Sector Command, Corps Commander Wobin Gwora, disclosed this at a press conference organised by Fundacion Exito Ltd, an NGO, to launch the #StopAtRed# campaign in Abuja.

    “This policy came as a result of the crashes that were being experienced, and the Corp Mashal on the 30 of June 2017 flag off the enforcement and the enforcement started on the 1st of July 2017 and we will not stop it until everybody key into it.

    “I might not give the exact statistics but the number of people since the inception of this emotional evaluation to the hospital, we have over 7000 people that have gone to the hospital for that evaluation and over 140 people result tested positive in some areas.”

    According to him, those who tested positive were given another fine and advised to stay away from alcohol and drugs.

    He said that traffic offences taken seriously in FCT included making calls while driving, driving on one way and carrying overload.

    Gwora appreciated the NGO for the #StopAtRed# campaign to help in enlightening Nigerians to always be disciplined and do what is right at all times.

    “I have a good news for those who break traffic light especially when you get into the FCT, if you are arrested for beating traffic light, first of all you will be issued a ticket, secondly your vehicle will be impounded.

    “Thirdly, having paid your fine, you must go to the hospital for a psychological, emotional evaluation. If we don’t see that test results, your vehicle will remain with us.

    “So I want to tell Nigerians, especially those who are resident in the FCT, apart from breaking traffic light, don’t use phone while driving, don’t take one way and also don’t carry overload, these offence are critical,” He said.

    Mr Dominic Obozuwa, Director, Fundacion Exito Ltd, (FundELG Africa), said the NGO was founded on September 2013 and the vision was to build a national ideology for the next generation.

    He said that the #StopAtRed# campaign was organised to mark the United Nations Day, stating that the sustainable development goal was relevant to the organisation.

    “The #StopAtRed Rally is a segment of#TheGreenCampaign, a strategic National Re-Birth Project created by FundELG Africa to promote adherence to traffic rules, making the roads safe, keeping the environment tidy by road users especially drivers; thus making our cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

    “The inaugural #StopAtRed Campaign Rally will hold on Oct. 24 on the United Nations Day because the United Nations (UN) Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development is relevant to FundELG Africa.

    “The essence of traffic rules is to protect all road users in Nigeria and strict adherence with these laid down rules will curb road accidents and incidences.”

    He said that the campaign was focused on promoting safety and national security.

    “The three pronged objective of the #StopAtRed Rally, is to promote road safety awareness, adherence to traffic rules, especially the traffic lights, zebra crossing, driving against traffic, creating multiple illegal lanes, to mention a few; symbolised by the hashtag, #StopAtRed.

    “Promote national security, peace and unity; symbolised by our convergence at, take-off from and return to the Unity Fountain, Abuja.”

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the UN Day is a commemoration of the entering into force of the UN Charter on October 24, 1945 to ensure international peace, security and co-operation among member nations.

  • Drivers in Lagos spend 1516 hours in traffic, Los Angeles 128 hours – Report

    Drivers in Lagos spend 1516 hours in traffic, Los Angeles 128 hours – Report

    In August, CNN published a report on the perennial traffic jam in Lagos and how this affects the well-being of residents. The report filed by the network’s Nigerian correspondent, Shakir Akorede is still as relevant as the metropolis continues to be locked down anytime there is heavy rainfall.

    Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) — Lagos traffic is so snarled and gridlocked that a recent trip from the airport to Ajah, on Lagos Island — a journey shorter than 50 kilometers — took me eight hours. That was two hours longer than my flight from Istanbul to Nigeria.

    Welcome to traffic and travel Lagos-style, where the roads are clogged and millions of commuters are choked with frustration about the daily hassle in Nigeria’s commercial capital and Africa’s fifth largest economy.

    Disgruntled commuter Yinka Ogunnubi is a typical example, recently tweeting: “Left my house by 5:30 a.m., got to work at 9:10 a.m. This is no longer work, it is suffer-head. Dear Boss, Can I work from home?”

    Although many in Nigeria find the city alluring, especially for economic reasons, living in Lagos, the third most stressful city in the world, can take a mental toll.

    The city is unhealthily crowded. Despite being the smallest state in the country, it has the highest urban population with an estimated population of 22 million people and counting, more than double New York or London’s tally.

    More than eight million people, moving in five million vehicles cram into a tiny network of just 9,100 roads every day. This is the reason why Lagosians spend an average of 30 hours in traffic each week — or 1,560 annually — while drivers in Los Angeles and Moscow traffic spent only 128 and 210 hours respectively in the whole of 2018.

    Lagos is projected to become the world’s biggest city by 2100, with a population of 88.3 million. It urgently needs better road facilities and a high-capacity transit system.
    Mental health and productivity disasters

    Traffic congestion, with its noise and environmental pollution, takes a huge toll on workers’ mental and physical health.

    Health professionals have even linked its overall damage to the increasing rate of suicide in the city.

    According to consultant psychiatrist Olufemi Oluwatayo, it’s not a surprise that Lagos commuters are negatively impacted by the traffic conditions.

    “It is not really hard to see why employees might feel stressed, burned out or exhausted, especially in a city like Lagos,” Oluwatayo says.

    Traffic jam stifles both state and national economies. The Lagos business community alone loses $30.5 million monthly. While the gridlock at Nigeria’s largest seaport, Apapa, costs the country $19 billion annually — a loss higher than the country’s 2016 budget

    “They leave home at 4 a.m., enduring hellish traffic and then [have] to deal with work pressure and the prevalent job insecurity, not to add individual family problems and responsibilities. It is no surprise that, in general, many more people seems to be suffering from anxiety and depression.”

    The situation is also killing workforce productivity.

    “How productive can you be when you stay in traffic for over six hours on a daily basis, conjoined with the things you go through to have a normal life in this city?” media exec Agnes Marquis said in a report by local media publication Pulse, titled “Here’s why you should think twice before taking a job in Lagos.”

    ‘Beyond the cubicle’

    While working conditions across the globe are fast evolving, some Nigerian companies are reluctant to enable their employees to work from home.

    However workers with the option to decide when, where and how they work perform better, according to a report in the Harvard Business Review.
    Companies in Lagos who have enabled their teams to work from home say they rely on Internet tools such as Slack and ClickMeeting to foster communications remotely.

    “We heavily leverage Slack for internal communication — this makes it very easy for people to be in the loop of whatever is going on in the company regardless of where in the world they’re working from,” says Abdulrahman Jogbojogbo, who works for financial company Paystack.

    Traffic jam stifles both state and national economies. The Lagos business community alone loses $30.5 million monthly. While the gridlock at Nigeria’s largest seaport, Apapa, costs the country $19 billion annually — a loss higher than the country’s 2016 budget.

    The state’s new governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has promised to tackle the traffic issues and also decongest the Apapa port area, but some say his changes need to go deeper as the city creaks under the weight of its vast population.

    “As much as the removal of trucks will decongest some roads, it’s no one-size-fits-all. There is a clear need to moderate the flow of people as the population soars higher. Remote work offers that opportunity,” Ogunnubi says.

  • Apapa gridlock: Stay out of Lagos, LASG orders truck drivers

    Sequel to the incessant gridlocks witnessed at the Apapa axis of Lagos, the State Government on Friday directed owners and operators of articulated vehicles/trailers and petroleum tankers to stay away from its borders for now.

    The state government in a press conference jointly addressed by officials of the State as well as members of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre in Alausa, regretted that the incessant traffic bottleneck had impacted negatively on the commercial activities of the citizenry, adding that the directive would be enforced to eliminate the current hardship being faced by motorists.

    Addressing the briefing, the State’s Acting Commissioner for Transportation, Prince Olanrewaju Elegushi said investigations revealed that the traffic lockdown was a direct result of the challenges being faced by operators of the ports’ which had made it impossible for them to load the articulated vehicles/trailers that have come from the hinterland to evacuate imported items from the ports.

    He said the gridlock was worsened by the current rehabilitation of some major roads and other minor roads which necessitated the closure of some roads in Apapa, noting that the situation had led to the traffic bottleneck and backflow of the articulated vehicles to as far as Ojuelegba on the Funsho Williams Avenue, Surulere.

    Explaining the reason for the State’s directive, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, said the Apapa gridlock had also become a reoccurring problem due to constant breakdown of operations at the Ports.

    “Clearly, it is the breakdown of operations at the Port that is the monster causing this reoccurring issue. We keep having this issue of gridlock in Apapa because issues that the Ports Authorities and the concessionaires are dealing with are recurrent and the spillover effect of those issues are causing all these.

  • LASG to introduce new number plates, uniforms for drivers, conductors

    The Lagos State Government has made known its intentions to introduce new number plate for commercial vehicles in the state.

    The state government also hopes to adopt uniforms for commercial drivers and bus conductors.

    The Commissioner for Transportation, Prince Olanrewaju Elegushi, stated this during the 2017 Ministerial briefing to mark Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s two years in office.

    Elegushi said it would ensure clear identification of vehicles registered for commercial purposes.

    “The state agencies like Motor Vehicle Administration Agency, Number Plate Production Agency and ministry of transportation will fine-tune the operations and issuance,” the Commissioner said.

    Elegushi also explained that the development would bring a robust database for vehicles involved in commercial transportation to ensure safety of passengers.

    He added that about 5,000 commercial buses would be injected into the transport sector, while drivers and conductors will be given uniforms.

    “There will be introduction of uniforms for drivers and conductors to signpost a commencement of decency, discipline and quality service to the people of Lagos State,” Elegushi said.

  • FRSC to clampdown on drivers using phones while driving

    FRSC to clampdown on drivers using phones while driving

    The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Plateau Command, says it will from Monday clampdown on drivers using phones while driving on the highways.

    The Sector Commander, Corps Commander Pat Emeordi, who stated this on Saturday while briefing newsmen in Jos, said anyone caught would pay a fine of N4, 000.

    Emeordi said that the FRSC Establishment Act 2007, Section 10 (4), prohibits the use of phones while driving for obvious reasons.

    “When people drive and make calls or do text messages, it causes distractions and everyone knows that driving requires a 100 per cent concentration.

    “But the sad thing is that many people, including those who are supposed to know, are defaulting. We are saying that the act should stop.

    “The situation is so bad that the House of Representatives on the 7th of March had to take a cursory look at the situation and everyone is worried,” she said.

    According to her, the use of phones while driving has been identified as one of the major causes of road crashes in recent times.

    “In the couple of days, therefore, beginning from Monday, we are going out massively to clampdown on those who may default,” she said.

    Emeordi also advised road users to always ensure little children were kept at the backseats of cars as a safety measure.

    The commander stated that children kept in the front seat of cars face a higher risk than those who use belt at the backseats.

    According to her, the command will soon embark on sensitisation visits to schools and hospitals to educate parents on the dangers of keeping children in front seat or not strapping them to their seats.

     

     

    NAN

  • LASTMA goes tough on drivers plying one way, restricted routes

    …Seeks willful compliance with traffic, environmental laws

    The Lagos State Government on Friday carried out comprehensive enforcement of Traffic and Environmental Laws across the State, just as it urged motorists and residents to adopt willful compliance with the relevant laws to ensure free flow of traffic, civility and public order.

    The enforcement, which was jointly carried out by men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) and Lagos State Task Force on Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit, witnessed the arrest of hundreds of commercial motorcyclists plying one way and restricted routes in Agege, Iju Road, Abule-Egba and Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, among others.

    Traders displaying their wares on walkway thereby forcing pedestrians to walk on the road were also arrested, with their goods removed and impounded.

    Speaking to newsmen during the exercise, General Manager of LASTMA, Mr. Olawale Musa said in as much as government was willing to enforce the law with civility, it would however not allow anyone to break the law and cause trouble for other residents and commuters.

    Musa, who recently assumed office as the GM of LASTMA, said men of the Authority have been adequately directed to perform their duties with utmost civility and discipline, but urged members of the public to reciprocate by complying with the relevant traffic laws.

    He said the enforcement was largely aimed at sending a strong signal to the public that men of LASTMA were still very much on ground to ensure free flow of traffic in every part of the State and deal appropriately with any hitches.

    “This enforcement today is just to send a strong signal that we are on ground and that anybody that breaks the rules or does not conform with the law, we will do the needful but we hope we don’t go to the extent of impounding vehicles, arresting people and trying people. That is why we are appealing to members of the public to always comply with the law. It is not in our desire to make people suffer and once you comply, we don’t have any reason to do that.

    “In my few days in office as the new LASTMA GM, I have noticed that the problem we have are the issues of indiscipline and impatience. Most of our people are impatient and don’t like to obey traffic rules and they like to stop wherever they like especially the commercial bus drivers.

    “But as much as possible, we implore them to always cooperate with our men because it is when we all do that that we can have free flow of traffic. Sometimes, we might have few hitches but our men will always be on ground to control the traffic,” Musa said.

    Speaking on his vision for the Authority, the GM said it is a new dawn for traffic management in the State, adding that government, through the agency, would go all out to ensure that commuters have seamless experience travelling across the State.

    “Let me assure the public that we are going to have a new, very responsible and very disciplined LASTMA. As much as possible, we are going to ensure civility. We will not tolerate LASTMA officials that are rude; we will not tolerate LASTMA officials that act with imprudence and we also would not tolerate people that will not obey the rules, but as much as possible, our officers will maintain discipline and civility. That I can assure the public.

    “Our residents should ensure they obey traffic rules. We do not want to arrest anybody; we don’t take joy in impounding any vehicle but if we are forced to, we might have to. We have told our men not to tow vehicles indiscriminately. If vehicles develop fault on the road, as much as possible, we will help you to remove the vehicle from the road but when you disobey traffic rules, we will do the needful so that traffic will flow,” Musa said.