Road Carnage: Beyond Statistics

The statistic from the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) are not conscionable numbers—they correspond shattered families, stolen futures, and dreams buried connected Nigeria’s highways. Over 3,400 radical were killed successful crashes betwixt January and September 2025. The 5,421 fatalities recorded successful 2024 marked a 7 per cent summation from 2023, contempt a 10 per cent simplification successful full crashes. Behind these figures lies a communicative of preventable calamity enabled by systemic nonaccomplishment successful enforcement, exertion deployment, and accountability.

The causes of these deaths are neither mysterious nor new: overspeeding, operator fatigue, overloading, unsafe driving, and mediocre conveyance maintenance. Year aft year, these aforesaid causes output the aforesaid tragic results. Yet authorities respond with little consciousness campaigns and sporadic enforcement operations that bash small to code the basal of the crisis—drivers who termination radical connected Nigerian roads seldom look meaningful consequences.

A hard question demands an honorable answer: What happens to drivers who termination done reckless driving? Has anyone been jailed for overspeeding and causing death? When a commercialized driver, racing against time, loses power and kills passengers, is helium prosecuted for manslaughter—or fined and rapidly returned to the road? The information is painful: Nigeria has systematically failed to clasp slayer drivers accountable. The connection this sends is devastatingly clear—human beingness is cheap.

The existent strategy treats roadworthy deaths arsenic “accidents,” not crimes. However, a operator who knowingly speeds, drives portion exhausted, oregon overloads a conveyance makes deliberate choices that enactment quality beingness successful danger. These are not accidents; they are acts of transgression negligence. Until Nigeria establishes a ineligible model that sends specified drivers to prison, not conscionable postulation school, the carnage volition continue.

In the sentiment of this newspaper, the solution indispensable harvester technology, regulation, and transgression accountability. The archetypal captious measurement is to marque velocity limiters mandatory for each commercialized vehicles. This azygous argumentation could curb the superior origin of roadworthy fatalities—excessive speed—by removing quality indiscretion from the equation.

Speed limiter exertion is proven, affordable, and wide utilized successful countries that worth roadworthy safety. Commercial buses, tankers, and trucks should beryllium required to instal certified limiters calibrated to harmless maximum speeds. For intercity highways, 100 km/h is sufficient. Within cities, a velocity bounds of 50–60 km/h would drastically trim some clang frequence and severity.

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) should pb the mode by requiring velocity limiters for each commercialized vehicles successful Abuja. Such a aviator strategy would show feasibility and supply information for nationwide rollout. Vehicles without certified limiters should not person operational licenses oregon roadworthiness certifications.

Technology indispensable besides marque enforcement accordant and incorruptible. Nigeria should deploy automated velocity cameras linked to conveyance registration databases on large highways and metropolis corridors. These systems observe violations, seizure licence plates, and automatically contented fines—no constabulary serviceman required.

Unlike manual enforcement, cameras ne'er sleep, ne'er instrumentality bribes, and ne'er discriminate. Fines should beryllium automatically attached to conveyance registrations, with renewals blocked until the fines are paid. This closes the corruption spread portion creating beardown incentives for compliance.

Speed limits themselves indispensable beryllium clear, visible, and enforced. Expressways should person defined limits with graduated enforcement zones; municipality areas should person little limits—especially adjacent schools, hospitals, and residential neighbourhoods. The existent civilization of ignoring limits indispensable travel to an end. Technology-enabled enforcement tin marque violations costly and compliance automatic.

Technology, however, cannot regenerate justice. Nigeria indispensable betterment however the ineligible strategy treats roadworthy deaths. The instrumentality indispensable intelligibly specify causing decease done reckless driving—by speeding, fatigue, overloading, oregon driving unroadworthy vehicles—as manslaughter punishable by prison. Drivers indispensable recognize that taking a beingness done negligence means jail, not a tiny fine.

The FRSC, police, and judiciary should collaborate to guarantee airtight prosecution of offenders. Only disposable convictions and accordant imprisonment volition deter others.

Insurance systems tin reenforce deterrence. Drivers and transport firms with repeated violations should look sharply higher premiums oregon suspension from operation. Transport unions indispensable instrumentality work for their members; erstwhile a commercialized operator kills passengers, the institution should look civilian liability alongside the driver’s transgression trial. Such shared accountability forces operators to surface drivers, maintai...