Citation

Oni S. Proc. Road Saf. Four Continents Conf. 2007; 14: 16p.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Conference Sponsor)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In Nigeria, of all the available travel modes, road constitutes the most utilized. Yet, sufficient, long lasting and deep thoughts still eludes its planning and management. This consequently leads to inappropriate road usage which in turn results in a great risk to the society. The antithesis to risks and accidents is safety. This is concerned with the taking of necessary precautions against accidents occurrence or mitigating their effects. Safety therefore can be described as the acceptable level of risk at which everything cannot be made foolproof. This involves a question of risks acceptability and judgement. Therefore, strategic objectives, vision, guidelines, policy framework aimed at achieving the desired goals in phases have to be set through analytic, systematic, scientific and comprehensive systems approach, as well as means and consideration for attaining a sustainable road traffic safety environment. This paper identifies and discusses road traffic safety challenges, describes several current and potential programs and strategies for local road safety training and technology transfer. The organization of comprehensive highway safety programs is presented and used to support the suggestions provided. Greater proportion of road accidents in Nigeria revolves round the human aspect - the road users/drivers, especially the behavioral and attitudinal pattern. However, basic data and information are lacking, due to absence of political will, awareness, organization, institutional arrangement and poverty. We are hardly able to cope with the crash and post - crash stages; therefore, the only singular and most economic consideration is to adopt preventive measures rather than curative ones. Preparation of comprehensive and sustainable traffic safety educational programs, information/data inventory and applications form the focus of this paper. Therefore, the major contribution of this work is to develop guidelines aimed at ensuring an enduring plans and policy packages for adopting traffic safety education, data collection, usage and management for crash prevention. A paradigm shift is required in human factor approach and enforcement of road user behavior to improve traffic awareness, and a comprehensive program addressing all groups of road users mobilized at national level will make the necessary impact. The working and responsibility of the roads and traffic authorities should also be reviewed so that cost effective effort can produce lasting improvements in road safety standards and administration. Finally, a safe road traffic environment should be promoted for now and the future.