This will be quite a long read, but I think this write up is worth your time because the aim is to solve a problem that I believe is useful for everyone. Sequel to this thread below: https://www.nairaland.com/6315955/despite-auctioning-vehicles-lagosians-stillMy "unfiltered reaction" to it was this: Why would you AUCTION people's cars, is that not MADNESS and abuse of power? The outrageous fines for Lagos traffic laws violations are they not enough, yet you start auctioning people's cars that you did not buy or contribute for them to buy it. This is another Sanwo Olu policy I will never ever support. It is wrong, completely wrong. You can't just be usurping people's properties for a NON - CRIMINAL OFFENSE. Traffic violations or crimes like one way, no seat belt, over speeding etc is a misdemeanor offense or infraction. It is a traffic offense like Hit and Run, hit and kill murder etc that is CLASSIFIED as a felony. In the abroad that he mentioned, do they arbitrarily seize and auction people's cars for traffic misdemeanors? No way! It's only in NIGERIA that these useless govts turn everything upside down. In Canada, no single traffic violation code even falls under the criminal offenses. Nawa for this useless country oh. The Judiciary is practically dead, otherwise they should be defending the public from this type of terrible abuse of power. Yes, I said what I said, and honestly I'm 100% unapologetically not apologetic about it. BUT for a moment please, let's forget about the "unclassy" messenger and focus on the message, let's redact in our minds whatever crude language seen as we read along, let's ignore the "expletives". They are nothing but an emotional outburst of dissatisfaction and not aimed or directed at any individual in particular. Now, here's what led me to making this thread. This fine gentleman, King by name, replied my comment and I could feel the passion in his letters, his "extreme" drive and I can 100% relate to that because I'm a passionate person too, the all-or-nothing kind of person, the go big or go home, I don't like doing halves. There are no proverbial half-full or half-empty perspectives. It's either Full or Empty. And that's the focus of this thread, it's either we solve this one way traffic problem or we don't. But we cannot create a system with the false perception of half full solutions nor half empty problems, where the problem is there or creates more problems, or that the so-called solution is running side by side keeping the problem alive or creating more problems. Anyway, moving forward and we're going somewhere, this was King's reply to my comment: King44:
why would you deldelibrately break law, if na me be sanwo Olu once you have been warned severally and you keep breaking traffic laws if I gbab you car na junk yard e dey go, it would be dismantled and sold as scrap.
But sanwo don lost my respect as the man no get mind of hin own, he is a muppet My attempt to comprehensively reply his comment is the genesis of the creation of this thread. This reply also forms the basis and principal content of my "open letter" to the LASG on how best to make effective policy or systems to solve this recurring problem of one way traffic violations in Lagos particularly, and hopefully other States can take a cue from this too. Below is my reply and opinion: Mr Man even God that is the Almighty God who is perfect in wisdom and whose Laws are perfect and impartial, people are breaking his Laws everyday, not to mention draconian, and terrible Laws made by a senseless insensitive Govt.
Whether you like it or not, the REALITY OF LIFE is Laws are made to be broken. They will surely be broken, one way or another. But same way you don't kill a mosquito with a nuclear bomb, and you use something proportionate, is the same way you make proportionate or proportional punishment penalty that corresponds to the level of offense or law broken.
Are you a parent? If yes, do you know how many times you tell children don't do this or that, and few hours or days later, they do exactly what you said not to do? When this happens, do you:
A) correct them through discipline and flogging with cane, OR
B) do you bring cutlass and chop off one hand or do you go and auction/sell them to another parent because they broke your law?
Is option B not madness? Same thing auctioning people's cars = madness, the LASG must be totally CRAZY and need psychiatric treatment for doing such. One way = misdemeanor, and all traffic violations that doesn't involve murder or permanent disability to another person, and that doesn't involve destruction of public or private property = misdemeanor = infraction = minor crime and should be treated as such. Basic penalty or punishment should be FINES. You break this law, you pay this amount, to discourage people from breaking the law.
If that is not effective, you increase the fine. As of right now, the MOST OUTRAGEOUS traffic penalty fines in the entire Nigeria is in Lagos. What the FG fines maybe like N3K, LASG will fine N20K for the same offense etc. Do you know why those HIGH fines seem INEFFECTIVE? Because their traffic officers are collecting BRIBES on the road. They catch an offender, they tell him, your fine is N35K but if you bring N10K, we will let you go, and this is the reason those hefty OUTRAGEOUS fines are INEFFECTIVE in minimizing traffic offenses. And one of the reasons they will NEVER be effective.
Then let's even assume, for the sake of assumption, that those officers turn a new leaf and are not collecting bribe, and then despite the hefty fines, the rate of traffic violations are still high or not minimizing, then an INTELLIGENT Govt would work on its institutional processes to create better institutions and systems to tackle the problem. These institutions will now innovate better ideas and better working systems that are more efficient to solve the problem.
For example, you make a law that
1) you pass one way = misdemeanor = infraction = Fine of N5K. But it's not effective, many people are passing one-way and causing traffic problems. Then you evolve the system to #2
2) you pass one way = fine of N20K. Definitely, one way offenses will reduce. But it's still at a high figure you don't like, a figure not considered a safe level, then you evolve your system to #3
3) you pass one way = fine of N300K? Looks like a brilliant idea on paper to solve the problem, right? NOPE! It is not. In reality, THIS IS MADNESS. That's how Govts sink into madness, Dictatorship, abuse of power etc because they lost their minds, because they lack that critical thinking at resolving recurring problems. That's the main problem with Govt in this part of the world, they don't sit down and think properly, they don't take a second look, they don't analyze from all angles, they don't look at the full picture, so they end up fumbling and making useless laws that don't even solve the problem.
As you can see from the previous news, AUCTIONING people's cars didn't solve the problem. You will only end up making motorists more desperate, more violent and more daring to escape because they know it's now or never, if I get caught and don't try to maneuver and escape, my car is gone forever.
I struggled 2 years or 5 years to get money to buy this car, or I bought this car on loan, or this car is not mine, I borrowed it etc, definitely they will try to make an escape, and it is a natural human instincts or reaction to the situation, especially when offenders know they can't bribe their way out, when they know some other people's cars have been auctioned previously. They will surely try to escape.
A system like this, puts traffic officers, pedestrians and other road users at greater risk of serious injury or death because the number of offenders who will try to escape will increase. Anyway, back to #3, remember the rule, PENALTY must be PROPORTIONAL to OFFENSE, no matter what. This is non-negotiable, this is a fundamental and immutable requirement that must be infused into whatever ideas or solutions to resolve the problem.
So because of this, there must be THRESHOLD LIMITS to how high a fine can go. That is to say, you can't just be making fines too high arbitrarily, or putting up OUTRAGEOUS fines, THIS IS MADNESS. You don't solve madness with bigger madness and you don't solve a problem by creating another bigger problem. Making fines too high is an invitation to more illegal activities and economic criminal offenses etc.
E.g. you make one way fine N300K or N1m thinking oh, this will solve it. It won't, you will catch offenders, you ask them to pay N300K or N1m, in an economy where minimum wage is barely N30K, where maybe over 80% of the population are struggling for survival, where will they see the money to pay that kind of OUTRAGEOUS fines?
So it means you're indirectly pushing them to crime, you are pressuring the integrity of system you put in place to solve the problem because more people will resort to BRIBERY, or fraud or stealing or one crime or another to try to pay those fines or get off the hook. So increasing fines too high means you are creating a system of chaos. Therefore, this type of outrageous fines idea of you pass one way = fine of N300K = RUBBISH IDEA
A better idea for #3 would be:
you pass one way twice in a week = N20K fine + One week mandatory Community Service of 6 hours per day. Community Service like running errands in Old People's Homes, or General Hospitals, or Clean Up exercises in Neighborhoods or whatever social services available. Whether you're rich or poor, it doesn't matter.
You must participate once you reach this level of infraction. This way, the rich won't buy their way out and the poor won't be segregated for punishment exclusively because they don't have money to pay their way out.
This is a more brilliant idea. Because the main goal is to eliminate or reduce one way traffic offenses to a barest minimum. Traffic penalty or punishment should NEVER be aimed at "generating revenue". Revenue should never be the deciding or motivating factor that you use to form policy on traffic violations.
I don't care who you are, it doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, Time is VALUABLE for everyone. Another highly valuable thing that cuts across all spectrum of life is FREEDOM. People cherish their TIME and FREEDOM more than anything. So a policy like #3, will definitely be effective in reducing the rate of one way offenders. 6 hours per day for a week (5 days) = 30 hours. People will think twice before wanting to lose 30 hours of their time regularly.
Then, at this stage one way offenders are reducing significantly, but the figures at still not at the barest minimum, so then you evolve your policy to #4
4) you pass one way 5 times in a month = your Driving License will be withdrawn for 6 months + 6 hours Community Service for 2 months + 20K fine
The govt can also make the N20K fine flexible for those who don't have money to pay or can't afford it. It should be optional like N20K or extra 2 weeks Community Service etc.
I strongly believe and deduce that with a policy like this, one way offenders will drastically reduce. Then a policy (#3 and #4) like this brings a system of accountability, a system where you have a database record of those who are in violation of traffic rules or a traffic offender registry. So it strengthens your traffic management systems, and this is how you create institutions and evolve them and make them stronger institutions to serve the best interest of the public, without govt turning into "Monsters". It fosters good relationship between Govt and residents.
This is my idea of what an effective and sane traffic management system should be like and I hope the LASG can implement this kind of ideas to out better systems in place, instead of arbitrary draconian overbearing, harsh, wicked, insensitive heartless and ineffective policies that don't even solve anything but makes things worse and destroys govt-to-citizens relationships and goodwill. Like I said before, focus on the message, not the "unclassy" messenger or crude language or expletives seen in this write-up. Just look at it like anger issues outbursts and it is not directed at anybody. I hope this helps the Govt create better traffic regulations policy. What are you views on this, do you agree or disagree? All contributions are welcomed, gbas gbos is also allowed but let's try to keep tribal wars away from this thread because it has absolutely nothing to do with tribe. Your ideas and suggestions will also be appreciated. Because if you know or don't know, let me tell you the LASG will read this thread. They are on Nairaland. Let your voice be heard to build a better Lagos for Lagosians, both indigenes, outsiders and visitors. 
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