RISING NUMBER OF ROAD CRASHES

Regulators could do more to stem the scourge

The latest Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) report that no fewer than 3,400 people died in road traffic crashes (RTC) across the country between January and September 2025, should concern all relevant authorities. During the same period, according to the Corps Marshal, Shehu Mohammed, 22,162 others sustained varying degrees of injuries in a total of 6,858 reported crashes.  Mohammed noted that the major causes of those crashes were linked to driver fatigue, overloading, conveyance of persons in haulage vehicles and traveling with fuel in plastic containers. “Apparently, driver behaviour is a fundamental element in determining safety on our highways,” said Mohammed. “It is expected that the 2025 end-of-year campaign will create the needed awareness and sensitisation for drivers to take up the issue of safety more seriously.”

Unfortunately, to many Nigerians, death by RTC becomes news only when prominent citizens are involved or casualty figures in specific incidents are high.  There’s hardly a day when some families are not thrown into mourning because of road accidents. Recent reports by FRSC indicate that vehicles commonly involved in these fatal crashes include commercial buses, articulated trucks, and trailers. Since only a certain class of Nigerians patronise such vehicles, that perhaps explains why the authorities do not pay much attention to the victims. But we cannot continue to lose the lives of many of our people needlessly.

The FRSC has in recent years also identified the behaviour of road users as one of the reasons for high fatalities when RTC occurs. A reckless driving culture occasioned by excessive speed, making calls or texting on cell phones while on the wheel, drunk driving and poorly maintained vehicles are some of the factors that combine to make Nigerian roads a theatre of blood. Vehicles that carry passengers beyond their capacity as well as trailers overloaded with people and livestock are vulnerable to high-impact accidents that occur almost daily. Sign-light and route violations, wrongful overtaking, mechanical failures such as brake malfunctions have also significantly contributed to the fatalities.

There is also the issue of seat belts which many don’t use. Certainly, seat belts are not mere ornaments. They are standard safety equipment of every modern car to cushion the impact of a car crash on the occupants, particularly the driver and the passenger in the front seat. Indeed, many modern cars are equipped with intelligent seat belt reminders. Despite the enlightenment campaigns on the danger of these habits, many road users scarcely pay attention. The FRSC once promised to open a ‘Shame Register’ which would be a sort of black book for notorious traffic offenders regardless of their status in the society. Nothing has ever been heard about that.

The state of the roads is another major cause of accidents. Both the World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics and that of the FRSC place Nigeria as one of the countries with very high road fatalities in the world. Nigeria’s total highway length of 194,394 kilometres is rated second worst in the world. While we commend initiatives like the Nigeria Road Safety Strategy (2021-2030) and the National Crash Reporting Information System (NACRIS) by the FRSC, more should be done to prevent the needless deaths on our roads.

From the WHO estimate of deaths on Nigerian roads to be 2.82 per cent of the global total to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the high turnover of victims is undesirable. More unfortunate is that victims are often people in the prime of their productive years. We urge the FRSC to collaborate with other stakeholders, including the road transport unions on this issue. We must halt the growing number of these avoidable tragedies on our roads.