Phone call causes yet another accident
Jonah Iboma
It was tale of regrets on Friday when a driver and occupants of a Toyota Corolla car had to be rescued from a gutter on the Berger- Iyana Oworo road, following a crash that left them injured and their vehicle seriously damaged. Investigations revealed that the driver, Mr. Sunday Danladi and two of his friends were on their way to Lagos Island around 11am on the fateful day to make some purchases when the accident happened.
A pedestrian who witnessed the accident, Mr. Kelechi Uche, said he was just walking on the side walk of the road when he saw that vehicle coming opposite him was gradually veering off the road. According to him, he thought the driver wanted to park but that he was surprised to see that the vehicle suddenly veered off the road completely and fell into the gutter.
He said immediately he saw this, he and some vehicle owners that witnessed the accident, rushed quickly to help the occupants of the car to safety. Uche said when they had successfully pulled the occupants out of the car, he asked the driver to find out what happened. The driver, he said, told him that he was receiving a call when suddenly a vehicle drove dangerous close to him. It was in that process of attempting to avoid colliding with that vehicle that the driver ended up falling into the gutter as he did not realise that he was very close to the end of the road.
Officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission who later came to the accident site confirmed that the accident was as a result of the driver making calls while driving without using hands-free devices. Commenting on the development, the sector commander of the FRSC, Mr, Jonas Agwu said the incident showed the need for road users to heed the various warning by the organisation.
He also warned drivers on the dangers of driving vehicles that were converted from right hand drive to left hand drive.
Speaking in a popular Lagos-based radio station City fm105.1, Agwu noted that carnage in Nigeria roads can be reduced if people observed some basic rules. According to him, while it is globally accepted that making and receiving calls without hands-free devices, while driving, is wrong and dangerous, Nigeria’s case creates additional worry as many vehicles on our road were converted from right-hand drive to the approved left-hand drive by unqualified ad ill-equipped mechanics.
He said a recent accident around Shagamu, Ogun state, in which a car ran into the bush, was caused by the imperfect conversion of a vehicle to left-hand drive. Investigation carried out by FRSC, he explained, showed that the driver of the vehicle lost control of the car as the steering of the car became stiff while he was on high speed and that the organisation showed that vehicle was converted from right-hand to left drive.
FRSC, according to Agwu, had now resorted to impounding right-hand drive vehicles plying Nigerian roads.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Government is looking at ways of issuing fresh legislation that will empower law-enforcement agents in the state to arrest drivers who make calls on the wheels. According feelers emerging from the state secretariat, there is an increasing belief that the stte government can reduce carnage on Nigerian roads if there is additional legislation that empowers law-enforcement agents apart from the FRSC to arrest people who make calls while driving.
It was tale of regrets on Friday when a driver and occupants of a Toyota Corolla car had to be rescued from a gutter on the Berger- Iyana Oworo road, following a crash that left them injured and their vehicle seriously damaged. Investigations revealed that the driver, Mr. Sunday Danladi and two of his friends were on their way to Lagos Island around 11am on the fateful day to make some purchases when the accident happened.
A pedestrian who witnessed the accident, Mr. Kelechi Uche, said he was just walking on the side walk of the road when he saw that vehicle coming opposite him was gradually veering off the road. According to him, he thought the driver wanted to park but that he was surprised to see that the vehicle suddenly veered off the road completely and fell into the gutter.
He said immediately he saw this, he and some vehicle owners that witnessed the accident, rushed quickly to help the occupants of the car to safety. Uche said when they had successfully pulled the occupants out of the car, he asked the driver to find out what happened. The driver, he said, told him that he was receiving a call when suddenly a vehicle drove dangerous close to him. It was in that process of attempting to avoid colliding with that vehicle that the driver ended up falling into the gutter as he did not realise that he was very close to the end of the road.
Officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission who later came to the accident site confirmed that the accident was as a result of the driver making calls while driving without using hands-free devices. Commenting on the development, the sector commander of the FRSC, Mr, Jonas Agwu said the incident showed the need for road users to heed the various warning by the organisation.
He also warned drivers on the dangers of driving vehicles that were converted from right hand drive to left hand drive.
Speaking in a popular Lagos-based radio station City fm105.1, Agwu noted that carnage in Nigeria roads can be reduced if people observed some basic rules. According to him, while it is globally accepted that making and receiving calls without hands-free devices, while driving, is wrong and dangerous, Nigeria’s case creates additional worry as many vehicles on our road were converted from right-hand drive to the approved left-hand drive by unqualified ad ill-equipped mechanics.
He said a recent accident around Shagamu, Ogun state, in which a car ran into the bush, was caused by the imperfect conversion of a vehicle to left-hand drive. Investigation carried out by FRSC, he explained, showed that the driver of the vehicle lost control of the car as the steering of the car became stiff while he was on high speed and that the organisation showed that vehicle was converted from right-hand to left drive.
FRSC, according to Agwu, had now resorted to impounding right-hand drive vehicles plying Nigerian roads.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Government is looking at ways of issuing fresh legislation that will empower law-enforcement agents in the state to arrest drivers who make calls on the wheels. According feelers emerging from the state secretariat, there is an increasing belief that the stte government can reduce carnage on Nigerian roads if there is additional legislation that empowers law-enforcement agents apart from the FRSC to arrest people who make calls while driving.
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