8 WAYS TO RIDE SAFELY ON NIGERIA ROADS
This accident rate increases especially during the festive period such as Christmas ,sallah ,new year festive etc.and many people tend to travel for these festivities thereby increasing the number of passengers in turn increase both the commercial vehicles and private vehicles on the highway making the road so busy during this period and increase the likelihood of accidents.
Recently, the numbers of accidents that I have heard are quit alarming and disheartening ,many lives including lives of families have been wasted on the roads . This needs urgent attention by the road users to prevent such an occurrence from happening to them. This becomes more urgent than ever especially when we enter the "ember months " that's (September - December ),these months have become dreaded months for most travellers because of the increase rate of accident on the highway.
As i am writing this article, I just saw from the news a lady that had a fatal accident and she was the only survival in that accident and all other passengers died ,she was badly injured and needed money to travel abroad for major surgery, she was soliciting for money, her parents has spent all their money on her ,even saying her dad spent all his retirement fund on her ,what a pathetic situation, this is just one of such many cases that happen. Nigerians what is the way out?
THESE ARE WHAT YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OFF ON NIGERIA ROADS AND TAKE CAUTION
We are writing in this article certain things that a peculiar about Nigeria roads and these things are major cause of accident on the road. I will be writing from the experience gathered from riding on these road for some years now and even travelling both by commercial vehicles and by my own private car across the states
1) INEXPERIENCED ROAD USERS
We must come to term with this fact that there are many people behind the wheel that are inexperienced but because they have access to car ,they jump into the car and off they are on the road.These kinds of people have caused a lot of accidents on the highway, even within the city. Such people obtain driver's licence without thorough screening for driving skills, they know how to bribe their way to get it, some of them don't even have it at all.
For you road users who want to be safe while driving on Nigeria road ,we must be mindful of such people and be careful of them , when you notice the driving skill of such person on the road and you can actually sense that they are inexperienced ,as much as possible avoid them and find away of not be behind them or at your back. They can actually cause accident for you.
2) BAD ROAD USERS
There are some drivers ,though experienced and licensed but they are very bad road users, they don't obey traffic signs ,road traffic rules ,such people overtake anyhow anywhere they don't care. Some of them think they are smart and well experienced , they thought they have mastered the road hence they can afford to drive careless and recklessly on the road ,these kinds of drivers are bad users of the road, be careful of them and avoid them ,if you notice they are trying to overtake you wrongly, don't struggle with them on the road, let them go.
3) BAD ROADS WITH SO MUCH POT HOLES
This has become the hallmark, trademark or logo of Nigeria roads, what a sorry case.Some roads' construction done by our government and construction companies are substandard, of low quality and before these roads are used for about a year or more, they get damaged and you begin to see pot holes.
In my last journey, it was not funny at all as I was travelling because that was the first time I will be driving on that road ,I was just entering pot holes with speed and you the implications of this. Because of that, my car got damaged and I had to repair it and that made me to spend more time or the road, my time was wasted trying to fix my car.
To be safe on the road with these pot holes, you must master the road and know where they are found and yet you must not over speed because you can not avoid them 100 percent ,hence without too much speed you can easily maneuver yourself if you suddenly approach them. Surely the bad roads have actually caused a lot of accidents and also increased the time spent on roads.
A Co- worker of mine,just came back from a trip that shouldn't last more than 16hrs ended up spending about 24hrs on the road, she couldn't come to work the following day because she was tired and her leg was swollen because of long hrs of sitting.
4) ROADS WITH UNDULATING TOPOGRAPHY
There is no problem with Nigeria road having undulating topography, the users must be careful when they are on the road with undulating topography especially when you are about to overtake and you are at the undulating topography, don't overtake when you about climbing the hill ,you may not see the incoming cars until you are on the hill and these can be dangerous when you about overtaking and suddenly the car appears and you did not see it while you are climbing the hill to overtake.
Another thing that you should watch while you are on undulating road,don't follow closely big lorries such as truck ,trailers at the back when they are climbing, sometimes their brake fails and the next thing is to stand descending and if any car is at its back ,that's going to be a crash. We have heard incidence of accident like this that happened.
5) SHARP BENDS
Some of Nigeria roads are with sharp bend, hence don't play smart to overtake when you are on sharp bend ,this has costed many of their lives. You must slow down and carefully pass through the bend and end the bend before you should think of overtaking any vehicle.Don't be in haste or in a hurry to go and waste your life or the lives of your passengers, live is too precious to be wasted just by what can be avoided. Nigerian drivers be warned.
6) DILAPIDATED BRIDGES
Seriously speaking these are death traps on Nigeria roads ,some of those bridges are older than me , over 40 years that they have been constructed with heavy trucks passing over them for many years, I think these bridges should have been re-built or reconstructed but yet they are still on roads, some of them the guards at the both sides are already damaged and fallen off . This has claimed lives on the road ,when you see these bridges ,be very careful on them and don't even think of over taking any car because it might have been that the guards at the both sides had fallen off and you don't even know and you may end up in the pit or river.
7) FLOODED ROADS
This sometimes happens on Nigeria roads especially during raining season that the whole road becomes flooded and car get stuck inside water and it might even be carried into the river while passengers are inside it. This occasional flooding occurs because of bad drainage systems on the roads.Some canals are blocked and those blockages have not been removed. Drivers should be mindful of this especially during raining season to avoid getting stuck in a flooded road. If possible that you can avoid those roads that are prone to flood and there are alternative roads ,it's safer to go through them not minding if it's longer,it's better to get to your destination late than to become LATE (dead).
8) TRAFFIC SIGNS NOT WELL PLACED
One of the things that do help road users is the appropriate placement of traffic signs on the road to actually know where they about reaching while driving. This will help the driver if to reduce the speed in case of student crossing, animal crossing or bridge ahead. In case these signs are not there ,there is high tendency of running into students ,animals ,overtaking on sharp bends and all of these can cause a fatal accident on the road.
In conclusion, safety on the road is the highest concern of every road users, we have highlighted what makes Nigeria road a death trap and how you can safely ride on those roads.I will be concluding by saying after you have done all that has been said above the highest safety is in Christ Jesus, if you give your life to him,your safety is guaranteed anywhere and at all times, i am a leaving witness. If you want to do so now,click here.
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