₦airaland Forum

Many people of high caliber and prominent men of worthy character in Nigeria have lost their lives or died young in road accidents involving all kind of haulage trucks. In 2015, a haulage truck caring unlatched container fell on a bus in Illishan, killing 11 occupants that were students of Olabisi Onabanjo University, (OOU), Ogun State and the driver of the said bus.

It is also interesting to note that properties worth millions, if not billions, were destroyed in different locations across the country in accidents caused by haulage trucks. For instance, in 2015, not less than 21 vehicles, 44 shops, and 3 houses were thoroughly destroyed by a fire accident caused by a petrol tanker that fell off the bridge in Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos-State.

If one single petrol tanker accident destroyed such amount of properties, you can imagine what 2 or more petrol tanker accidents could do to the society. This may probably explain to you why sharing the road with articulated vehicles or petrol tankers still remain worrisome in the heart of many people.

According to former Corps Marshall of Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Mr. Osita Chidoka, road accident involving tanker drivers and road haulage trucks between January and March 2009 were 2,119 accidents and 301 deaths. The fact that this happened in 3 months is shocking.

With this report, it means on the average there were 23 accidents every day and not less than 3 lives were lost every day.

In addition, in 2015, the Corps Marshall of FRSC, Boboye Oyeyemi, at a stakeholder’s summit noted that in 2013, a total of 21,199 vehicles were involved in crashes in which 1, 495 were tankers or trailer related.

However, from the above given statistics by Corps Marshalls, it is clearly noticeable that the rising road accidents involving tanker drivers and haulage trucks and the recorded deaths from these accidents are increasingly worrisome.

Nevertheless, there are 3 reasons why high rate of accident involving petrol tankers and haulage trucks couple with high rate of deaths from these avoidable accidents remain worrisome to road users, however, here are the reasons: please read the complete article here thanks:[url]http://globaltransportandlogistics.com/3-reasons-the-high-rate-of-carnages-and-deaths-caused-by-haulage-trucks-is-worrisome/
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A thumb is the short tick finger that is located at the side of your hand. It is a strong finger that supports other fingers to function very well. More also, a thumb has natural capacity or endowment to touch other fingers. No any other finger has this endowment; in other words, no any finger can easily touch other fingers except the thumb, this shows why thumb is most unique finger among its equals.

However, in our contemporary world I have discovered that transport is that thumb that touches other fingers. It is a desirable element in life for all. No individual, organization or a nation can do without transport. Transport is relevant to all aspect of human life. It is important to health care, education, economy, tourism, just to mention a few. In fact, it is the most desirable essential element that has no barrier to any aspect or activity on earth. For example, a sick man or patient will not consult a veterinary doctor for treatment likewise a human doctor will not prescribe drugs for animals, even though both of them are trained to save lives in medicine one is to save the life of an animal and the other to save human life and by profession they are not meant to cross their boundaries. In other words, their disciplines have a barrier or a limit, but transport is not so, it is relevant to all, either animal or man. For instance, if an animal e.g. a dog is made to walk from one place to another in order to get a treatment from a veterinary doctor and a man also walks into an hospital to see a doctor, do you know that both of them have engaged in transport? Walking is also a form of transport and it is the oldest form of transport on earth. Therefore, no any living creature or organism e.g. man or animal that can do without transport. It is through transport they can access to other opportunities, like education, employment, health care, etc.

However, for more understanding let us examine the importance of transportation to some aspect of human endeavors; please read the complete article here thanks:[url]//globaltransportandlogistics.com/transport-a-thu-touches-other-fingers-by-owinje-peter/[/url]

You don’t need to die untimely because you ride your car. Virtually everyday people lost their lives in a motor accident around the world. Every fatal accident on the road results to a death of a road user. Hence airbag is able to save your life in such a time.

Air bags in your car are made to reduce the likely harm that may happen to you during collision or accident. It is a safety feature that is designed to protect the occupants or passengers in an accident or collision. When accident occurs air bags are deployed immediately to prevent occupants from being injured, for instance, the air bag will protect you from hitting your head on the steering or dashboard which may hurt you during collision. Hence, with the help of air bag you may hit your head on the air pillow which may not hurt you during collision. A report has shown that air bags have reduced the number of deaths and serious injuries from roads accidents. For instance,” according to the Insurance, Institute for Highway Safety, the number of deaths when both seatbelts and air bag were used was 24% less than when only seat belts were used. Hence, the National Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) now require cars made after 1998 to contain both driver side and passenger air bags.” By Bryant. please you can read the complete article here:http://[url]globaltransportandlogistics.com/airbag-can-save-you-from-untimely-death/[/url]

Road transport is the oldest mode of transportation that still plays an important role to the modern economy. In fact, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, road transport contributes not less than ninety percent (90%) to the GDP from transport-related activities.

Its accessibility and flexibility coupled with mass production of automobile by different manufacturers make the road transportation paramount in our daily activities hence the need for road management in our society becomes inevitable. The problems of road transport are more than building the highways. For instance, in 1990 Nigeria had over one hundred and eight thousand (108,000) km surface road net work, which is the highest road net work in West Africa and second in sub Sahara region. Currently, road net work in Nigeria is more than one hundred and ninety four thousand (194,000) km.

Despite, the high numbers of road net work, the road users still encounter different traffic problems virtually every day. According to Federal Ministry of Works and Housing (FMW&H), the annual loss due to bad road is valued to eight ( billion naira, while operating cost resulting from bad roads is valued at N53.8 billion.

Road net work is not the road problem in Nigeria.

At this point, it is important to note that, some of the traffic problems encountered on our highways generally come as a result of deplorable condition of the road and not the road net work itself. These problems were however, worsened by lack of good maintenance of the existing transport facilities. For instance, let us imagine an over loading lorry abandoned its track in a bid to evade one pot hole or the other on highway may pose a serious danger to other road users.

Furthermore, statistics available at Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in 2009 shows, that 8 out of every accident were caused by pot-holes in Nigeria. This is a clear point of poor road maintenance which shows that we lack good road management structure.

The incorrect conception of a good road

In Nigeria, to have good roads to average road users simply means construction of new roads and building of highways which may not even stand the test of time due to poor construction while the contractors make huge amount of money from such contracts. This is the basis of poor road infrastructure which cut across all level of governments. What a misconception indeed!

Importance of Road maintenance

Meanwhile, the objectives of the federal road development project in Nigeria are: “ To reduce passenger travel times; vehicle operating cost and traffic related facilities or targeted federal roads and assist federal government of Nigeria to manage Nigeria Federal road assets in sustainable manner” However, as important the objectives are they can never be achieved by building roads and highways alone. It calls for proper maintenance and management of existing national highways or roads. The basic objective of road maintenance is to ensure that the road is constructed or made to maintain its original condition throughout its designed life. Road maintenance is intended to slow down the road deterioration and it should begin on the first day after the roads construction or improvement works are completed. Road maintenance is important in the following ways:

It prolongs the life of the road by reducing the rate of deterioration thereby, safe guarding previous investments in construction and rehabilitation of the road.
It lowers the cost of operating vehicles on the roads by providing a smooth running surface.
It keeps the roads open for traffic and contributes to more reliable transport services.
It sustains social and economic benefits.
It reduces the accident rate if the road users are safety conscious.

The effect of regular and timely maintenance is to increase the life span of the road by putting off the date at which it needs to be re-constructed. This will provide a higher rate of return on the initial investment. However, it can be argued that the construction of any road that consumes a large amount of money as the case always is in Nigeria is of limited importance, if there is no effective maintenance afterwards.

please you can read the complete article here:http://globaltransportandlogistics.com/bad-road-is-costing-nigeria-billions-misconceptions-of-road-maintenance-in-nigeria/

Traveling by air seems unsaved to a fairly large number of people due to what they see, hear or read. News on plane crashes make a big noise in the world, such news naturally stays longer in the mind of many fliers or people. In fact, it is a mind-blogging to many people. This may explain why the flying fear still remains in the heart of some people. Therefore, you may think that traveling by air is riskier than traveling on the road, but truly speaking; traveling by air is safer than traveling on the road.

However, it is interesting to note that, traveling by air is safer than traveling on the road. Why? It is because safety is the major concern of every airline industry and there’s no any other mode of transportation that does it better than air line industries. In fact, there is no other mode of transportation that can be fully monitored, investigated and scrutinized as we have in aviation industries. Truly speaking plane crashes are so rare when you compare it to road transport accidents.

According to World Health Organization, road traffic injuries caused an estimated 1.24 million deaths worldwide in the year 2010. With this estimation, it seems one person is killed in every 25 seconds. It is very rare or difficult to have this kind of estimation in air transport within a year. Why? It is because safety in aviation industries is not negotiable. It is a core value of any aviation industry in the world. please read the complete article here:[url] http://globaltransportandlogistics.com/air-transportation-is-safer-than-road-transportation-by-peter-owinje/
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A bus-stop shelter is one of the important transport infrastructure designed for both passengers and commercial vehicles to “set down” and ‘pick up’ passenger. It is usually build on a public road with roof and inbuilt seats for passengers. It is an important infrastructure purposely made for passenger’s safety.

It is interesting to note that some of these bus- stop shelters are gradually becoming luxury, apartment for lunatics in Nigeria, thereby, making it so difficult and unpleasant to be used by public.

Often times, I wonder at my observation when I see a mad man making use of transport infrastructures on our public roads without being checked. A times you see them using road side as their inevitable apartment and a times you may see them using round about facilities as their dwelling place. So, one may wonder if all these public transport infrastructures are alternative means for lunatics to live.[i] [i]Please you can read the complete article here:http://globaltransportandlogistics.com/passenger-alert-bus-stop-shelter-gradually-becoming-a-luxury-apartment-for-lunatics-in-nigeria/

Public Transport Defined

Public transport is the kind of transport that is meant for the public which is concerned with the movement of people and goods or any object from one area of collection to another area call destination.

The Public Transport Providers

This kind of transport can be provided by both public and private agencies. For instance, it is public when it is provided by the government and it is private when it is provided by private individual. However, whether is provided by the government or private individual since it is meant to provide service to the public, they are referred to as public transport. Public transport can be provided by all the mode of transport such as road, rail, air and water transportation. However, this article focuses more on road transportation.

Macro and Micro Transportation

Public transport could be macro and micro transportation. It is macro transportation when it carries people and goods in a large scale and it is micro transportation when it carries people and goods on a small scale e.g. taxicab, motorcycle, tricycle and so on.



Qualities of Public Transport

However, public transport is expected to provide quality service to its users anytime or any day. Quality service in transport means the extent to which public transport service providers meet the desired expectations of its customers (passengers). Such expectations include:

Safety
Reliability
Cheap and Affordable.
Fast
Convenience and comfort.
User’s information.

Benefits of Public Transport to the Society ... Please click to read the complete article... thanks. http://globaltransportandlogistics.com/public-transport/

Epilepsy defined.

According to Merriam–Webster Dictionary defines epilepsy as: “any of various disorders marked by abnormal electrical discharge in the brain and typically manifested by sudden brief episodes of altered or diminished movements or convulsion.”

Firstly, I noticed in above definition that the problem has to do with the brain of a man; this explains why the disease is a serious problem, because the brain controls virtually every part in a man.

Secondly, it happens suddenly to the victim anytime or anywhere. This also, explains why people suffering from such disease should not be allowed to ride a motorbike or drive a car or vehicle anywhere. Indeed, it’s unwanted occurrence that can embarrass its victim publicly. These were exactly what happened to a commercial motorcycle operator I saw on, 11th of August, 2015.

An epileptic patient riding a commercial motorbike

On the said day I was in a commercial bus going home when we (3 passengers and the driver) noticed a commercial motorcycle rider who suddenly became very unconscious when the motorbike was already on a speed on highway, we all wonder what had happened to the man we had earlier seen riding his motorbike normally in front of the bus we occupied.

However, the man became very more unconscious at a speed on the highway; we saw his body shaking rapidly and his hands shaking aimlessly. As we were wondering of what had actually happened to the man in a twinkle of an eye, however, we over heard the voice of the only passenger he carried (a lady) shouting at him “why are you riding like this? Why are you riding like this…?” The article continues...
[url]http://globaltransportandlogistics.com/warning-an-epileptic-patient-riding-a-commercial-motorcycle-a-bid-to-untimely-death-by-owinje-peter/

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In virtually every year over 130 children die while more than 4,500 kids are seriously injured while using the road in UK. Source: childalert.

Since, children are also part of the road users then, you need to foster a culture of safe and courteous road use in them. To allow them to use the road they need to have good road sense and being road smart, these explain why you need to teach your kids how to be a safe road users.

However, it is not about teaching them alone you also need to lay down a good example for them to see and follow; this is because children learn fast from their parents or adult.

Good road sense may not come to them naturally as expected, therefore, here are some tips you need to teach them: http://globaltransportandlogistics.com/10-simple-tips-that-can-help-your-kids-to-use-the-road-safely-by-owinje-peter/

One major reason for maintaining proper tire pressure is to increase your safety and safety of other road users on the road. Proper tire pressure will certainly, improve your vehicle’s handling; decrease tire wear; reduce braking distance; increase water dispersion while decreases the possibility of hydroplaning; reduce rolling resistance, i.e. the force require to roll a loaded tire and enhance fuel economy. Keeping correct air pressure in your tires helps your tire to last longer and to be safer on the road. These explain why TPMS sensor is important in your car.

TPMS means Tire Pressure Monitoring system and it is developed to alert the drivers or motorists when the air pressure in their vehicle’s tire is too low or dropped below the manufacturer recommended level that could create unsafe driving conditions.

TPMS alerts you if your tire is under-inflated or overinflated. TPMS indicator is usually located on the dashboard. It is designed like horseshoe-shape with an exclamation point in the center. Once the TPMS illuminates on the dashboard, all you need to do at first is to check your tire pressures with a gauge to determine the tire that needed air pressure.

How to read a TPMS warning light with meaning //[url]globaltransportandlogistics.com/tpms-a-known-system-that-can-save-your-life-while-driving-by-owinje-peter/[/url]

As of December, 2013, 153.3 billion text messages were sent in US, this shows how the mobile phone is highly used by people, in the same year (2013), 3, 154 people were killed and 424, 000 people were injured in motor accident involving distracted drivers. SOURCE: distraction.gov. This may explain why motorists are prohibited to use mobile phone while driving in the State. For instance:

On September 30, 2009, The President of United States, Barrack Obama issued an executive order prohibiting Federal employees from texting while driving on government business or with government equipment.

On October 27, 2010, The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration enacted a ban that prohibits commercial vehicle drivers from texting while driving in US.

Nevertheless, in 2011, The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration banned all hand-held cell phone use by commercial drivers and drivers carrying hazardous materials in US.

The question is why all these orders or ban on the use of mobile phone while driving on the road? It is because your mobile phone can make the road unsafe for you and other road users. In fact, it is one of the major causes of accident on our roads.

There are a lot of distractions that are likely to happen when driving or using the road; such distractions include talking to passengers while driving; reading; writing; receiving calls or making calls; texting, eating and drinking to mention but a few, they are distractions because they can steal one’s attention. Hence, distraction occurs when one’s attention is directed to different object at the same time of doing something. Therefore, with this understanding, when driving, distraction simply means anything that can cause your eyes and mind to off the road and it also includes, what can cause your hands to off the steering wheel. Distraction on the road places road users such as pedestrian, motorist or cyclist on high risk when using the road, when the drivers are distracted while driving the chances of road accident becomes higher. For instance, in USA, it was reported that 3,328 people were killed in 2010 and in 2011, 3,360 people were killed respectively, in road accidents involving distracted drivers. SOURCE: Center for Disease control and prevention. (CDC), these explain while all road users must avoid distraction whenever they are using the road.

However, most motorists or drivers are part of mobile phone users. Mobile phone benefits its users in many ways but it becomes a dangerous object that can kill you on the road, if it is used while driving. For instance, if your phone rings while driving and you discipline yourself not to pick the call because you want to be safety conscious while using the road but, you try to check or look at the phone screen in order, to know who your caller really is. Truly speaking, by this act, what has just happened to you is nothing but a dangerous distraction that can kill you on the road, why? It is because it takes only a split of second for an accident to occur and whatever that will take your eyes and mind off the road while driving is unwanted dangerous distraction in road transport that can lead to a fatal accident. In addition, it is important for you to know that the use of mobile phone is a distraction that can impair drivers to some degree but texting alone on the mobile phone draws your eyes and mind away from the road for longer period of time than listen to radio or even calling someone on your mobile phone. More so, when you engage in conversation through your mobile phone, while driving, it is important to also know that conversations require your extra thought which will diminish your concentration while driving. The simple truth is that using mobile phone while driving is a risk you must avoid.

Often the time I have seen motorists or drivers receiving calls while driving on the road. I have also seen pedestrians receiving calls or making calls while crossing or using the road; sincerely speaking I have also seen a cyclist receiving call while riding a bike on the road. In fact, some drivers even try to read text on their phone while driving, and some pedestrians also try to text their friends while using the road or walking on the road, these are bad habits that can make our roads unsafe. For instance, texting can take your eyes off the road for 3 to 4 seconds and do you know that it takes a space of 2 seconds for an accident to occur. This explains why mobile phone can become a dangerous object that can kill you on the road. Your safety and the safety of others must be your sincere concern whenever you make use of the road.

However, as a motorist there are things you need to do in order to keep yourself safe on the road and other road users as well. You need to start practicing good driving habits without being forced by law enforcement agencies; you need to see it as your civil responsibility to make the road safer for all road users. However, there are steps you need to take as a motorist in order to make our road safer for all of us, such steps are as follow:

http://globaltransportandlogistics.com/driver-alert-when-your-mobile-phone-becomes-dangerous-peter-owinje/

My observation revealed that each time an accident occurs on Nigerian roads, fairly large number of people believe it is an act of God. Therefore, you see many of the motorists, most especially the commercial ones drive recklessly on the roads even when they are sharing the road with haulage trucks. It is even more obvious among commercial motorcycle operators who believe that no accident can occur except God allows it and that no matter how reckless they drive, it can never lead to an accident. This is an erroneous belief that can result to an untimely death.

As an individual, a high rate of road accidents in Nigeria is neither acceptable to me nor do I think it is acceptable to any Nigerian but oftentimes, when you see an accident occur on Nigerian roads, it will not take you a long time before you hear people giving their final conclusion on the whole matter by saying “It is an act of God”. They easily accept any accident that happens on Nigerian roads as an act of God. What a wrong conception!

So, one may wonder if God had pre-destined many Nigerians to die by road accidents on daily basis. In addition, one may even be tempted to ask why God would choose road accidents as a means to kill thousands of people in Nigeria. These, among others, are the likely questions that may readily come to mind when one ponders on the frequency of road accidents and the general belief or common conclusion of many people on road traffic accidents as “the act of God”

Accidents by circumstance are not God’s errors

At this point, it is essential that the writer is neither an Imam nor a pastor over a church. Therefore, I am not looking at this erroneous belief from a religious perspective rather I am looking at it from a professional point of view. In all honesty, most accidents are caused by human errors.

The Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe reveals that most road accidents in Zimbabwe happen as a result of human errors. According to the statistics given (in Zimbabwe), 93.4% of all accidents recorded during 2014/2015 festive periods were due to human errors. Source: Chronicle.co.zw

Although, a man can be a victim of an accident by circumstances, this is a situation when a man who has no fault is involved in an accident caused by another man’s fault. Yet, this does not mean that the accident is an act of God, rather it is an avoidable occurrence caused by another man’s errors that makes an innocent man a victim by circumstance.

A Case Study

For instance, in 2015, an articulated vehicle carrying an unlatched container suddenly slipped off the truck and fell on a commercial bus at Illishan, Ogun State, Nigeria, killing all the12 passengers on board. However, 11 of the victims were said to be students of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) and the last person was the driver of the said bus. In addition, the truck driver took to his heels and the truck has no registered number plate, making it so difficult to trace the truck owner and the driver.

This particular accident was caused by a human error traceable to four set of people or agencies namely:

The truck owner
The truck driver
The traffic regulatory agencies e.g. The Police, The FRSC, The NSCDC, The VIO, and
The Government.

It was a high risk of negligence on the part of the truck owner and the truck driver to carry an unlatched container on public roads. It was also an error from the traffic regulatory agencies to allow an unlatched container to be carried on Nigerian roads without being checked or arresting the truck driver. The last but not the least is the responsibility of the government to make it a law forbidding any truck to carry an unlatched container on public roads. It should be realized that the failure to do and enforce this would amount to an error on the part of the government.

However, the said students and the driver were the victims of an accident by circumstance. It was not the fault of the students to board a commercial bus and it was not the fault of the bus driver to use the public road or share the road with a haulage truck, yet they died in the accident they never bargained for by circumstance. It is painful and quite unfortunate that they were not the cause of the accident that claimed their lives. Their untimely deaths were determined by the errors of four categories of people mentioned above; otherwise, it would have been an avoidable accident.

Another Case Study

In 2013, on Christmas day, to be precise, a woman and her 4 children and 5 other people were killed when a container fell on a stationary commuter bus at Alaba Suru, in Lagos. It was revealed that the truck driver was trying to avoid killing a mad man who slept on the road when the container it carried fell from the truck.

It is a pity that the woman, her 4 children and 5 other people were the victims of the accident by circumstance. The death that claimed their lives was not as a result of their own fault, it was the fault of 4 set of people mentioned above. The mad man that slept on the road only showcased a characteristic of a mad man because a normal human being can never sleep on the public road for any reason. So, the mad man might not share in the blame. Moreover, observation also reveals that some of the bus-stops on public roads are luxury apartments for lunatics to live. They make this important transport infrastructure their dwelling place without being checked, thereby making it so difficult for public use. However, the state or government environmental board should be blamed. It’s a menace or a threat to the public to see many mad men and women moving around the city and on the public roads. This is why the government environmental board or agency responsible for environmental sanitation should be blamed. It is expected of them to rise up to the task in reducing the menace constituted by lunatics on our public roads.

Source: http://globaltransportandlogistics.com/high-rate-of-road-accidents-an-act-of-god-or-a-human-error/