Have You Installed a Speed Limiter?
Did you read the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi disquiet over the spate of avoidable road traffic crashes in 2021 as well as early 2022? Did you also read his riot act to operatives of the Corps on the necessity for sustained enforcement of the installation of speed limiting devices by commercial vehicles as a strategy to tilt the trend.
Did you read of the crash that triggered his apprehension? It occurred around Bagauda Law School, on Kano-Zaria expressway. The crash was caused by speed violation involving two Toyota Busses. Out of the 45 passengers, 26 were injured while 19 comprising of 15 male adults and 4 female adults were killed.
The riot act to crackdown on deviants is in tandem with the Presidential directives of 2016 on the enforcement on compulsory installation of speed limiting devices by commercial vehicles. The FRSC helmsman stated that tilting speed related crashes is one of the strategic goals of the Corps in 2022. He also stated that eradicating speed limited crashes from the highways has been his major focus. He regretted that most of these crashes are highly avoidable.
As I reflect on the riot act and the worry by my boss as well as the progress made so far, I recall when my friend and brother, Patrick Adenusi of Safety Beyond Borders, a Non-Government Organization on road safety, threw a thought provoking poser to a gathering of stakeholders when he asked rhetorically; ‘what is the value of the life of a Nigerian’? Frank Nneji of ABC Transport threw a similar poser when in response to the issue of the cost of a speed limiter; he asked if the cost of a speed limiter, no matter the amount could buy a life.
This same question haunts me each time a road traffic crash claims the life of a Nigerian on our roads. It equally haunts me each time I receive a report of a staff killed by a driver for merely slowing him down from killing himself or maiming others. The same thought ran through my mind when prior to the April 1 deadline,2016 for the enforcement of speed limiter, some people questioned the rationale behind the move by the Corps, while others challenged the authority of the FRSC to enforce the speed limiter. I remember when the initial enforcement date was halted by the House of Representatives’ resolution on April 1,2016. Despite these initial hiccups, I knew that Nigerians will naturally applaud the novelty in the introduction of the limiter by the Corps.
My optimism was further boosted when I had the privilege to attend the public hearing of the House Committee on the Federal Road Safety Commission on this subject where overwhelmingly the imperatives for the initiatives was drummed up by over 99percent of stakeholders who attended the hearing. Even those who had reservations merely proposed for its implementation to be complimented by other technologies.
However, my optimism was again partly jolted when a litigation was filed at the Federal High Court Abuja by the Registered Trustees of International Human Rights and Anti Corruption Society in Suit No FHC/Abj/CS/805/15 challenging the powers of FRSC on the speed limiter. Candidly, I was relieved when the High Court Presided over by Justice Chukwu dismissed the suit, describing the position of the opponents to the device as lacking in merit, stating that the FRSC has acted in line with its statutory powers by introducing, imposing and implementing the use of the speed limiting device in Nigeria.
This statutory powers referred by the Court on the regulation on the compulsory use of speed limiting device on vehicles in Nigeria is contained in the FRSC Establishment Act (2007) and the National Road Traffic Regulation 2012.In Section 10, sub section (m) of the (Establishment) Act, 2007, the Commission is empowered with „ determining and enforcing speed limits for all categories of roads and vehicles and controlling the use of speed limiting devices. It states that „ All motor vehicles plying the highway shall be in possession of good electric or air horn, jack, wheel spanner, tools, fire extinguisher, inflated spare tyre, first aid box, emergency warning triangles or cones, laminated windscreen and mirror, speed governor (speed limiter), wipers, insurance certificate and road worthiness certificate. Similarly, in the National Road Traffic Regulations (NRTR, 2012) it provides that,’’ A person shall not drive a vehicle on any public road which is not fitted with a speed limiter (speed limiting device).
I am not a human rights activists and I have nothing against them as I am convinced that their initial passion was for our general good which I believe includes buying into government strategies to check excessive speeding. Speed is identified as a key risk factor in road traffic injuries, influencing both the risk of a road crash as well as the severity of the injuries that result from injuries. Speed affects the driver, the vehicle, other road users and the environment underscoring the reason behind the FRSC initiatives.
The functions of the speed limiting device he further maintained are therefore multi-dimensional. The effects of speed include: increased driver’s response time to objects and increase risk of collision, reduces the driver’s ability to steer safely and around curves and objects on the roads, extends the distance necessary to stop a vehicle, increases the distance a vehicle travels while the driver reacts to a dangerous situation.
The benefits of the initiatives include; lower speed resulting in less fuel consumption by vehicles; lower speed also cuts down vehicles maintenance cost, slows down depreciation value thus vehicles last longer. It will significantly impact positively in changing the individual driving behavior which has been hard to achieve over the years as it will reduce the speed of vehicle to pre-set limit, thus reducing overall crash risk and likely to lessen severity of crash.
