For Habiba Dauda, her story of the road will never be complete without remembering that fateful day in 2010 when she almost lost her life on her way to Abuja from Minna, her story of the road is a sad one as she still lives with the scar from her accident on the road, the accident left her limping and her limp is her story for the road.
While Bitrus Simon was not directly a victim, his tale of the road involve him losing his cousin some year back as a drunken driver cut short her life at the prime age of 15, the accident which killed his cousin instantly left him with the zeal of joining the crusade against road traffic crashes in Nigeria.
Every individual worldwide has a story to tell of the road, from their various engagements in the use of the roads either as drivers, passengers, pedestrians or passersby. The roads have been both favorable and unfavorable to all and sundry.
Road deaths and injuries are sudden, violent, traumatic events and their impact is long lasting and often permanent (as in the case of Habiba).
Each year, millions of newly injured and bereaved people from every corner of the world are added to countless millions who already suffer, the cumulative toll is tremendous.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Global status on road safety 2015, 1.25 million road traffic deaths are recorded every year which means that over 3400 deaths a day and road traffic crash has been said to be the number one cause of death among youths aged 15 to 29 years. The statistics also shows that although low and middle income countries have only half of the world’s vehicles, they have 90 per cent of the world’s road traffic deaths.
Statistics made available to the Reporter showed that in 2017, Nigeria had a total of 9,383 road traffic crashes out of which 2,587 was classified as fatal with 5,121 people killed; meanwhile the 2018 report on the figures of road crashes in 2018 is yet to be made available.
The grief and distress experienced by the huge number of people affected by the impact of road traffic crashes is greater because many of the victims are young and many of the crashes could and should have been prevented; also government and society’s response to road death and injuries and to bereaved and injured victims is often inadequate, unsympathetic and inappropriate to a loss of life and quality of life.
The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims was set up by the United Nations to remember the many millions killed and injured on the world’s roads along with their families, friends and many others who may have been directly or indirectly affected. It is a day also intended to respond to the great need of road crash victims for public recognition of their loss and sufferings.
In a survey carried out by our Correspondent as part of activities to commemorate the 2018 World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, three out of five people have a sad story to tell about the road and most of the responses revealed that the causes of road crash accidents in Nigeria are enormous and prominent among these causes include bad condition of the roads which involves numerous potholes and road bumps (speed breakers), over speeding, negligence from the part of the drivers and government, bad condition of vehicles and drivers being under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
Birtus Simon will never forget his cousin, Miss Doksemwa who was killed at 15 by a over speeding driver in a village called Kawo in Angwan Television, Shendam local government area of Plateau state, Nigeria, “the ugly incident which occurred before my eyes have never been forgotten”, he said in his response to the survey.
According to him, his cousin was crossing the road to fetch water to b used for cooking the evening meal at about 2pm when she was hit and she died instantly, “the incident moved me to the point of resolving to join the crusade against road traffic crashes in Nigeria.”
Today, Simon is among the dedicated and committed officers working hard to ensuring safety of road users in Nigeria via the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC); speaking on what needs to be done to reduce crashes on the Nigerian roads, Simon advocates for improved funding for road traffic management agencies in the country and development of intelligence transport system saying it will go a long way in reducing RTC.
Habiba Dauda is one of the survivors of road crashes as the incident which occurred along the MInna – Abuja road as a result of over speeding on the part of the driver despite knowing the roads are bad left other occupants of the vehicle dead; however, she is left with a scar from the accident, “I thank God for life as I survived in a crash that took the lives of others but I have to live with a scar as I now limp as a result of the accident.
Speaking of a possible solution to reduce crashes on the roads, Habiba said that drivers need to be sensitized to see reason why they should obey traffic rules and traffic officials.
Also most of these deaths can be avoided if the emergency medical response system is effective in the nation, in the survey carried out, only 30 per cent knew about the emergency medical response system, 50 per cent were not in the known while 20 per cent were uncertain.
On Emergency Medical Response, Simon said that the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Nigeria and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) are doing their best in providing rapid rescue emergency services to victims of road traffic disaster however pointed out that it can be improved if adequate funding is provided while Habiba said that although there is no prompt emergency medical response system in the country, the FRSC are sometimes quick to rescue the situation.
The Niger state FRSC Sector Commander, Joel Dagwa said the FRSC has a emergency response number which respond to calls promptly but the emergency response system is not known to everybody as only few take advantage and make use of it.
For adequate road safety, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended countries focused in addressing road safety in the long term to focus on ‘holistic action’ which is a comprehensive approach involving multiple sectors that considers vehicles, road users and the road environment while in the short term, some results can be achieved with cost effective interventions such as passing laws on relevant risk factors, enforcing them and supporting these with public awareness campaigns. The WHO also endorses a comprehensive approach to road safety called the ‘Safe System Approach’ aimed at developing a road transport system that can better accommodate human error and take into consideration the vulnerability of the human body, rather than just maintaining a focus on human error.
So remember as you drive or use the road, what is the story that the road will tell of you?
“This story was made possible with support from the ICFJ-WHO Safety 2018 Reporting Fellowship Program and Bloomberg Philanthropies.”
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