I Love One-Way Driving

Road Safety

Few features of a road network are as misunderstood as the one-way street. To the careless motorist, it is an inconvenience, a detour placed between a driver and his destination. To the traffic engineer, it is among the most effective tools for ordering movement in crowded places. To love one-way driving is not to enjoy being inconvenienced. It is to appreciate a system built on safety and efficiency which are only achieved when everyone agrees on a single direction.

What really is the scope of the problem? To dissect the road safety challenge in our clime, our searchlight must begin with the data. The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) data covering the first nine months of 2026 speaks volume. While 7156 road traffic crashes were reported, total deaths were 3445 while injuries reported was 22,292. Behind each of these figures is a family. A workplace and a community left poorer. And traumatised.

The global picture is still troubling despite some progress. The World Health Organization’s estimates 1.16 million lives killed in 2025.Athough the global deaths rate dropped by 21percent between 2011 and 2025 despite roaring vehicle numbers, road traffic injuries remain the leading killer of children and young adults aged 5 to 29. The African region experienced a 17percent rise. The conclusion of the matter is that our roads are far deadlier than they should be.  

What is the logic for a single direction? On a two-way road, every vehicle faces the risk of a head-on collision, among the most lethal crashes on any highway. Opposing streams of traffic meet at speed, and one lapse of concentration, one dare daring overtaking manoeuvre or one moment of fatigue can turn a pleasurable journey into another tragedy. A one-way street removes that danger. When all vehicles move the same way, the head-on conflict simply ceases to exist.

The benefits extend to junctions, where a large share of urban accidents occur. At a typical intersection of two-way roads, a driver must watch traffic from several directions, judge gaps in oncoming flow and turn across opposing lanes. A one-way system sharply reduces the number of possible conflict points. Turning vehicles no longer cut across oncoming traffic, and pedestrians need to look in only one direction as they cross. Studies link well-designed and enforced one-way systems to fewer collisions and fewer pedestrian injuries.

It matters that one-way streets address exactly the behaviors the Corps keep warning about. The Agency identifies excessive speeding, reckless overtaking, distraction, fatigue, overloading, poor road conditions, tyre burst and unroadworthy vehicles as causative factors. Wrongful overtaking is difficult to commit on a properly enforced one-way street, where there are no deviants engaged in stunt driving. 

Besides safety, one-way streets also move people faster. When traffic flows in one direction, road space is used more effectively. Extra lanes become available for parking or loading. Where there is signalized traffic control, signals can be coordinated so vehicles pass through a succession of green lights without repeated stops, a technique known as signal progression. The result is steadier movement, less idling and lower fuel consumption.

For cities such as Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt among others, where population growth has outpaced road construction for decades, such gains are not luxuries. In Lagos, where millions of commuters compete for limited road space every day, one-way arrangements on dense commercial corridors can relieve pressure that no amount of impatience or horn-blowing will. In Abuja, whose planned layout makes one-way systems easier to implement, and in Port Harcourt, where congestion around commercial districts is a daily trial, the same principle holds. A road carrying traffic in one direction can often move far more vehicles than one trying to serve both.

The success of any one-way system depends on the discipline of those who use it. A one-way street is only as safe as its least compliant driver. A single motorist travelling against the flow, whether from haste, ignorance or a belief that the rule does not apply to him, turns the safest road into the most dangerous. Drivers do not expect vehicles to approach from the front. Reaction times are short and the consequences are severe.

This is why the culture of obedience matters as much as the engineering. The data suggest where discipline needs to be strongest. Commercial vehicles accounted for a chunk of reported crashes in the second quarter of 2025, according to National Bureau of Statistics figures. Men made up 81.77 per cent of road deaths that quarter. Whatever the explanations, these numbers point to drivers who spend long hours behind the wheel, often under pressure to deliver quickly. The pressure to cut corners is real, which is why clear rules, consistently enforced, are so valuable. 

In our defensive driving lessons 101, we noted that a defensive driver anticipates the errors of others and avoids committing and. He reads signs. Observes directional markings and respects the rules of the road not as acts of submission but responsibility to himself and others. The one-way sign, mandates everyone to keep to the direction indicated for the safety of all.

Some drivers are perpetual deviants. Ignorance is not their problem. Just a poor and irresponsible attitude.  Others do so because of no driving plan. These are the types that enter unfamiliar routes, miss a turn, panic and make a dangerous one-way driving. For the record, a missed turn on a one-way street is not a crisis. Safe driving mandates you to continue ahead, find the next safe opportunity and rejoin the correct route.

Relevant road authorities need to ensure signs are clear. Well maintained and visible. Markings should not be faded or signages obstructed with political campaign materials or any marketing materials while enforcement should be top notch. Meanwhile, the one-way principle teaches freedom that comes from shared rules that must be obeyed devoid of chaos and avoidable crashes and deaths. To say I love one driving is an affirmation to obey all traffic rules and share the road with others with respect and decency.

As the FRSC battles to keep road traffic crashes, deaths and injuries down, we must play our part on one-way routes or any other routes. Obey traffic rules on   all road networks. We must match world class road engineering with safer and responsible driving at all times.