Nigeria: Our Dangerous Roads

15 September 2011
editorial

Motor vehicle is today the most common means of transport in Nigeria. That is why the high rate of accidents being recorded on our roads should worry everyone. The statistics rolled out every succeeding year tend to suggest that we have not established a foothold on how to reduce accidents on our roads. A report emanating from an international organisation recently said that Nigeria is rated as the country with the second highest rate of road accidents in the whole world.

Many factors are responsible for intractable cases of road accidents. Manufacturers know that cars are bound to be involved in accident once in a while. That is why brakes and other facilities are installed in every car. But car accidents do not always come from mechanical fault. Most accidents on the road can be blamed on human error: motorists who refuse to obey highway rules or are ignorant of such laws. Consequently, most drivers thrive on breaking speed limits. Some drivers are so reckless that they do not give others a passage way. Others in this act of dangerous driving seem not to know how to use the traffic indicator or cooperate with those who make use of it. Many others do not even care to put their vehicles in good condition.

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