Health and Road Safety
4.12.2016
The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that road injury is one of the ten leading causes of death worldwide, killing about 1.3 million people in 2012. Road accidents occur in every country but much more in developing countries due to bad roads.
Globally, Nigeria has the second highest rate of road accidents among 193 countries of the world. In 2012, at least 473 people died from a total of about 1,115 road accidents nationwide. These accidents have become a constant daily re-occurring phenomenon, rather than an emergency that requires immediate response to rescue possible casualties. The toll that traffic accidents exact in Nigeria has attracted global concern, as Nigerian roads have been adjudged the most dangerous in Africa by W.H.O. According to the report titled “Road Safety in the WHO African Region”, more than one in four traffic accident deaths in Africa occur on Nigerian roads.
The need for a reliable and fast response team cannot be overemphasized as many lost lives could have been saved, if there was a response to the accident that claimed their lives. It’s really unfortunate that a Nigerian who finds him or herself in an emergency situation would not have access to an emergency response team. Countless Nigerians have also watched their loved ones cry to death due to delay in the arrival of rescue teams. Although road accidents are a part of life and can happen at any time, the resulting effects can be controlled and mitigated so as to have no or minimal number of casualties.
The recommended option to increase road safety and reduce road traffic accidents in Nigeria is to first, improve the quality of the roads and effect the use of traffic lights and road signs. Then, assemble have a reliable stand-by emergency response team, with an active phone number to call, in case of road accidents.