I've seen so many people commit this offence while driving and I just feel we should talk about it.

Have you ever used your cellphone while driving and do you feel comfortable about it?
If you're in a vehicle and the driver starts recieving a call, do you feel endangered?
Do you feel people should be fined ₦4,000 for receiving/making calls while driving?

This is just one of the numerous fines now payable by motorists for traffic offences in the recent upward review of fines by The Lagos Sector Command of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) as from 1st of July.

Hence,
Driving without a seat belt attracts a fine of ₦1,000.
The use of phone while driving, ₦4,000.
Driving without license attracts ₦3,000 fine.

Some new offences were also introduced,
A fine of ₦50,000 for any private or public hospital that rejected accident victims.
A fine of ₦50,000 is the failure to provide adequate warning signs by companies embarking on road construction

I think the punishment for the use of mobile phones while driving is long overdue. It has been a constant source of worry to me. The attendant loss of concentration while answering phone calls may lead to catastrophic results. I even feel the use of earpieces to answer phone calls while driving is not too right. The company I work with does not allow it. And believe me, there has been no accidents for 2 years.

Our speed limits should also be reviewed. Our roads in Nigeria are not the best, but men we have the fastest drivers in the world! I wonder why we no get anybodi for F-1 or NASCAR

Also the issue of herdsmen and their cattle haphazardly criss-crossing the road should be looked into, traders on the high and ''un-roadworthy" cars.

This is a welcomed development as it is difficult to concentrate while driving and making or receiving phone calls at the same time, even when you are using a handsfree or speakerphone. No matter how, your concentration will certainly drop and you cannot observe all that happens on the road or by the sides of the road.

Anybody that drives in Lagos will surely know that you need more than two eyes and two ears to drive safely, what with the recklessness of the Danfo drivers and the ubiquitous Okada riders.

But then, the FRSC should not just go slamming charges on people for various traffic offences. It should follow the due process of the law. Let the country's law makers enact laws on the issue of phoning while driving, and impose appropriate sanctions for erring offenders. Until then, whatever fine or sanctions imposed by the FRSC will be seen as unconstitutional, and anybody that has the will or guts can take them to court.

And lets I forget, apart from phoning, there are other things that can distract your attention while driving, like fiddling with your car stereo, talking with the passenger inside your car, children noises and distraction, reading newspapers while driving in traffic jam ( ) and loud music from the car stereo. All these should be looked together when we are considering the issue of safety on the roads.

diakim:

And lets I forget, apart from phoning, there are other things that can distract your attention while driving, like fiddling with your car stereo, talking with the passenger inside your car, children noises and distraction, reading newspapers while driving in traffic jam ( ) and loud music from the car stereo. All these should be looked together when we are considering the issue of safety on the roads.

Diakim, I very much agree with you. Apart from phoning, ( some people go as far as reading/sending text messages while driving) other things distract attention while driving, people even eat while driving( to add to those already enumerated bv you). All these issues has been there even before GSM came to Nigeria but never addressed. I don't know why the FRSC is particular with making/receiving calls while driving.

Another thing they should make clear is whether Drivers are allowed to use handsfree while driving, in my opinion, Drivers should switch off their phones while driving, handsfree or no handsfree because  ones concentration level drops when one make/receive calls while driving.

The problem with not being able to do anything apart from driving on Lagos roads, in particular, is that we spend so much time in traffic!

I am looking to the Internet as what we need to bring us into the information age. If the cost of Fixed Wireless Internet access drops to about ₦5,000, then it will be possible for more information workers to start working from home. We will also have Universities where full-time students spend 80% or more of their time studying from home (the remaining 20% is spent on school premises for practicals and examinations).

Telecommuting can help us save lives and without harming efficiency. People often take or make calls, read newspapers and eat in traffic because they are trying to make better use of the hours they spend [i]daily[/i]on Lagos roads! (this applies to roads in other Nigerian cities ...)

You guys did a good job with enumerating all the traffic offences.

What I think is the reason for the high fine on such offences is that they know quite alright that Nigerians will still err.
Take for instance, the issue of crossing the highway when there is an available bridge starring right at your face. I know people who have stopped this because they had to pay a huge fine for that.

Nigerians [I]yack[/I] a lot on phone and not many of them know that they should use handsfree.

Remember, [FRSC officials] are all out to generate revenue and when they know things like that are rampant, they make a move to make money from that.

As for these [I]danfo[/I] drivers, they are reckless without a phone, not to talk of when they are to receive calls while driving.

Great! I love that. making or receiving calls while driving has done more harms than good.
It has claimed lives. I read in one of our National dailies with the photograph of an accident that occured I think in Lagos caused by a driver making calls. he succeded in crushing the poor hawking guy. The pix was hurrible.

I support the fine, actually think the sum of money is a slap on the wrist.

But good job, FRS for watching out. In America, traffic violations will cost you a lot of money.