Ember Months:LASDRI Partners AMATO, Truck Unions To Advocate Safer Driving Culture

OLORUNDARE ENIMOLA, Lagos

The Lagos State Drivers Institute, LASDRI has continued its ‘Ember Months’ road safety campaigns kick-started some few weeks back with a bumper road safety programme organised for members of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners, AMATO and the Association of Maritime Reefers Truck Owners, AMRTO on Wednesday 22, October, at Lillypond Container Terminal, Ijora, Apapa.

The truck drivers and owners who turned out in their large numbers were freshly enlightened about the critical need to be safety conscious, especially in the ’ember months’ preceding the Yuletide season with its attendant social and economic frenzy, which give rise to reckless driving from impatient drivers with insatiable desires to make much gains transporting goods and commuters.

Mrs. Afusat Tiamiyu, the General Manager of LASDRI in her lecture to the drivers, demystified the ’ember months’ mystery, saying there is no difference between the months of the year other than the change in attitudinal perceptions, making people to attach special myths to the ember-months which is not so nor true.

She therefore admonished the drivers to be patient whenever they are behind the wheel regardless of the month, either in January or December, asking them to be more of defensive drivers than abusive ones, saying, “avoid anything that could lead to road rage. You cannot use Lagos road, Ibadan road or Akure road and carry the road to your house, you have to leave the road for million of others to make use of, neither should you die on it”

The General Manager noted that there are three ‘Cs’ that undergirds driving, with the first ‘C’ connoting caution, requiring drivers to be conscious of other road users, taking caution to obey every traffic law and regulations put in place to enhance smooth motoring and eliminate road crashes.

The second ‘C’, according to her, speaks about concentration, stressing that many while driving simultaneously do other things, making phone calls, typing messages or watching videos on their phones and has become habitual for some, “you cannot be driving and have divided attention.” She asserted.

Adding that the third ‘C’ speaks about concentration, affirming that the Lagos State Government has directed those driving for a living should pass through their agency – LASDRI once in a year towards educating and equipping themselves, harping that the law also permits LASTMA officials to apprehend drivers who flaunt the directive.

In his address, Chief Remi Ogungbemide, the National President of AMATO, said the seminar is more than just making our roads safer, it is a moment of truth, when members of the association should embrace the directives and corrections of the traffic Agencies present and begin utilise them for the good of all.

He said, “we are here not only to see how we make our roads more safer, but to also see how can more practically involved in making this laudable quest a reality by we the practitioners, this is a moment of truth and we must get it right. We may not have been getting it right in in the time past, but as of now, how can we get it right?

“For instance we cannot continue to defend anyone driving without the valid driving license and if you are driving a vehicle and the vehicle has no valid document, it’s wrong. Somebody mentioned it, there are some of us who are driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, the association has purchased breathalyzer and we will soon start using it to test any driver driving under any form of negative substance.” He added.

Chief Ogungbemi however appealed to Lagos State traffic regulators to be more corrective than punitive, saying, “Let us be more corrective than punitive. If you are out there, let the driver be bold enough to beckon to you for help me, rather than having feeling that you are mainly out to punish them, we witness situations when some drivers sight traffic officials they become uneasy behind the wheel.”

Mr Desmond Isaac who represented the Nigeria Port Authority, spoke about the fatality of road crashes, saying when there is an accident, there will be injuries, there will be loss of lives and there will be damage to property, throwing up the need for drivers to be safety and security conscious.

Attesting that drivers are contributing immensely to the nation’s economy, and in particular the Nigerian Port Authority, while affirming that without them, port operations will not be complete, he therefore joined others to appreciate their effort and contributions to port operations.

He however pointed out the ripple effect of crashes, saying, it is not only the person that causes the accident, but every other person around that accident will be affected, noting that a driver’s life is not only important to his family, but It is important to Nigeria.

He said, “So let us be safety conscious. I have witnessed a number of accidents in the port environment. Sometimes you realize that a motorbike will be under a vehicle and the driver unaware will start the engine, and something terrible happens. There are situations where a motor-boy will try to climb onto a moving truck and will mistakenly will slip and a fatal accident will occur, I therefore want everyone to be safety conscious and be very, very careful in the way we conduct ourselves behind the wheel.’

Officials from LASTMA, the Vehicle Inspection Service, VIS also spoke, reminding the drivers of critical traffic laws and regulations they need to adhere to while driving and the determination of their agency to maintain a corrective approach to relating with drivers rather meting out punitive measures, meanwhile officials of the State Ministry of Health were on ground to carry out free medical tests and advise to the participants.