Sometimes
last year, I had the rare privilege as the Zonal Commanding Commanding
Officer Zone 7, comprising the Federal Capital Territory Abuja and Niger
State to be conscripted by my boss,Dr Boboye Oyeyemi,the Corps Marshal
to the Federal Road Safety team to a Public Hearing seating at the
National Assembly presided over by the House of Representatives
Committee on Road Safety. The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr
Raji Fashola was also invited to the hearing.
During his presentation, the Minister who as Governor of Lagos State
demonstrated his disdain for traffic infractions proposed communal
service as punishment for traffic infractions. His concern was that
traffic fines are yet to drive home the needed change required.
He
therefore reasoned that communal or community service where traffic
offenders are compelled to undertake community service such as cleaning
drainages or sweeping public places will go a long way in deterring
people from irresponsible driving. His proposal sounded different from
the usual position people like me canvass which is always on increased
fines. This position is the similar to what countries like the United
Kingdom tow always. Just last December, the Transport Minister, Andrew
Jones during a gathering of Parliamentarians on road safety in London
said a new fine regime was being introduced to curb driving and phoning
violation. While I still hold rigidly to my views that increased fines
will do the magic just like Lagos has done, I have however had cause to
do a rethink on his stand pondering on the novelty of such punishments.
Will it bring about the needed change or should it be targeted at which
driving offences; the trivial to severe or to all? For the records, I
must state here that in other climes, everything from driving without a
seatbelt to drunk driving can result in penalty points on your license, a
hefty fine or even jail time. Whether it’s a speeding ticket through
the letterbox or a court summons for something more serious and this
explains why I am still marveling at the Lagos State novelty especially
the jail term angle. The reason for my excitement is very simple-human
beings are almost the same world over. The same applies to drivers
irrespective of the color of the skin or the sex or even age. What
deters the average driver in developed climes is the fact that
infractions are not treated with kid gloves as you can end up in jail or
lose your right to drive based on what is regarded as cumulative
penalty points.
It
is therefore key to understand the penalties for driving offences to
promote safer driving. The National Road Traffic Regulations contains
all these traffic violations meant to deter drivers from committing
offences.This write is therefore a must read for every licensed driver.
Although the penalty point system is not fully implemented as is
obtainable in countries such as the United Kingdom, I will no doubt
start with the definition of what some basic terms are. First is the
penalty point which refers to Points allotted to traffic offences
accumulated in the driver’s record? If a driver receives a statutorily
maximum number of points, the driver shall be warned and or have his
licence suspended or withdrawn. FINE: Is payment of a sum of money made
to satisfy a claim of an offence committed as penalty. WARNING: Is
notification issued to a traffic offender who has accumulated 10 – 14
penalty points. SUSPENSION: Is the temporal removal or interruption of
authority or right to drive a vehicle or ride a motorcycle/tricycle, as a
punishment for a period of time, having accumulated 15 to 20 penalty
points. WITHDRAWAL: The act or condition of taking away the authority or
the denial of the right to drive a motor vehicle or ride a
motorcycle/tricycle on Nigeria roads, having accumulated 21 and above
penalty points.
The
second definition is on the USE OF NOTICE OF OFFENCE SHEET The Notice
of Offence sheet is issued by a Road Marshal to a traffic offender who
has violated any of the Road Traffic Laws and Regulations. It is a legal
document and as such should be properly understood and filled, as it
may be tendered in the law court for prosecution purposes.
Having
defined these terms as a guide let me now focus on the Notice of
offences which contains thirty-seven specific traffic offences. These
numbers are not restrictive as they can either increase or decrease
depending on that the traffic regulations provide at a time. It is your
responsibility to know and understand these offences and to daily strive
not to run foul of any .In dealing with the offences, you will get to
know the offences, their categories, definitions, penalties and penalty
points: Since specific infractions have become the norm, I think it
will be appropriate to look at offences such as speeding, use of phone
while driving, seat belt related offences, drivers license and vehicle
paper offences, in addition to assaulting marshals on duty among
others.
Let
me first begin with the corporate offences that relates to companies
such as construction companies and hospitals. This is because quite
often these two constitute hindrances to our operations. For some years
running, hospital that should complement our rescue efforts often
frustrate our rescue team by rejecting road traffic crash victims on
flimsy excuse such as the absence of beds for victims and in some cases
they insist on the payment of specified sums before the admission of the
victims. Although there is a measure of improvement in this direction,
there are still some bottlenecks and that is why I have chosen to start
with the MEDICAL PERSONNEL/HOSPITAL REJECTION OF ROAD CRASH VICTIM which
carries no points and a fine N50, 000. It refers to Hospital or Medical
personnel refusal to accept and administer treatment on Road Crash
survivors or accept corpse(s) of victim(s).The fourth is INADEQUATE
CONSTRUCTION WARNING SIGN no point with a fine of N50, 000. Failure of a
road construction company to provide adequate warning and/or
directional/diversion signs at road repairs or road construction sites.
CONSTRUCTION AREA SPEED LIMIT VIOLATION which carries 3 points and a
fine of N3,000. It refers to the failure to adhere to speed limits
posted at construction sites and it is applicable to Construction
companies
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