OSOGBO – Mr Ramon Adeyemi, the Secretary of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Osun State, has advised motorists to be more vigilant while driving on the highways.
Adeyemi gave the charge while speaking with newsmen on Wednesday in Osogbo in view of the forthcoming Christmas and New Year celebrations.
He urged motorists to stop the habit of speeding on the highways during the Yuletide for the purpose of making more money from transporting people.
According to him, motorists must be more conscious of their life and that of their passengers by not engaging in a mad rush for money through reckless driving this festive period.
‘’Cases abound, where those who had been reckless because of the lust for money on occasions like this, eventually died and lost the chance of enjoying the money they made.
‘’It is always advisable for motorists, especially commercial drivers, to be patient and conduct themselves in a manner that can afford them the opportunity to live to witness another festive period.
‘’Also, those who are travelling with their private cars should not be in haste to get to their destinations, they must have known that it is better to get to one’s destination late than to be the late,” he said.
Meanwhile, the NURTW official called on the government to rehabilitate bad roads in order to reduce the incidence of road mishaps during the festive season.
Adeyemi said the number of road users naturally increased during the festive period, which would put more pressure on the roads and the attendant accidents, if the roads were not in a good condition.
Dodging of potholes on the highways by motorists, according to him, had been the major cause of fatal accidents on Nigerian roads, which had claimed many lives and left others incapacitated.
‘’The government at all levels has a greater role to play in the area of ensuring accident-free celebration, it is no more news that many of our roads are nothing but death traps.
‘’The government must strive to fix the roads to make them more passable, as the number of vehicles plying the roads will increase during festive periods.
‘’Motorists should also desist from dodging potholes on their lanes as this often result in head-on collisions; it is better to enter a pothole than to have accident with an incoming vehicle,’’ he said.
