This was scanned from Guardian of yesterday. Unrealistic fines!

The fines are meant to be a serious deterrent to such violations. As long as the public is well informed about these fines and there is a serious campaign by government to inform the public i don't see the problem. Hefty fines? Perhaps, but i believe you seeing them and being shocked at the consequences of such violations actually means the fines have served their purpose. 

the more the penalty, the less it will happen.

It's all very well for you to say. After all, you've never had a 'one Way' sign magically appear just after you've nosed into a road.

What this stuff says is that if you are a passenger in a bus or taxi that goes 'one-way', you're liable to pay N50000


I can just imagine the scams that'll be pulled by taxi drivers in collusion with the police. Take a passenger down a one-way road, let police grab you and then watch 'em shake down the victim.


c'est la vie.

SeanT21:

the more the penalty, the less it will happen.

May i use this logic to suggest the death penalty for missing Environmental Sanitation? Or for not using overhead bridges?

texazzpete:

May i use this logic to suggest the death penalty for missing Environmental Sanitation? Or for not using overhead bridges?

@texazzpete, you don't think you are blowing this out of proportion? The way such fines are to be implemented by the police concerning passengers can be discussed, but as long as the public is made aware of the fines i don't see the problem with the fines themselves. Now if you know that something like driving on the wrong side of the road is wrong and you do it anyway, endangering others and causing traffic jams etc and you get fined, whose fault is it?

I think CAMERAS ( even if is mobile camera fixed on cars) should be used as allibi. Otherwise this USELESS, GOOD for Nothing Policemen, will use this to victimice Lagosians

I agree with Skyblue, the public must be sensitized about the new laws. As long as people are aware of the laws and its
consequences (if flouted), then all is well. God Bless Governor Fashola.

The real problem now is its enforcement because the officials/police would use this opportunity to collect more bribes or harass the
public. So, the enforcement component of the new law would largely determine its desired success.

texazzpete:

It's all very well for you to say. After all, you've never had a 'one Way' sign magically appear just after you've nosed into a road.

What this stuff says is that if you are a passenger in a bus or taxi that goes 'one-way', you're liable to pay N50000


I can just imagine the scams that'll be pulled by taxi drivers in collusion with the police. Take a passenger down a one-way road, let police grab you and then watch 'em shake down the victim.


c'est la vie.

actually it says if you are a driver in a NON-COMMERCIAL vehicle, so it is not directed at passengers in buses or taxis.

The fines are hefty, but I do think heavy fines are necessary to combat this madness, heck in Ontario, if you go 50km above the speed limit you'll get fined $10,000, your license suspended and your car impounded so I think the fines are suitable, all I would have wanted to see is that a fine of NOT LESS THAN say 20k and UP TO 250k in each of those cases, leaving some discretionary room for the enforcing officers depending on the egregiousness of the offence.

TP has a point though, there are many signs that are either obscured or seem to be deliberately hidden to catch commuters. But this is not the target - the aim is to curb the blatant lawlessness that goes on and makes the traffic situation even worse than before. Stern deterrence is needed for this class of offenders and that is why I support the directive

adequate sensitization and clear signs is needed to prevent any confusion.

texazzpete:

It's all very well for you to say. After all, you've never had a 'one Way' sign magically appear just after you've nosed into a road.

What this stuff says is that if you are a passenger in a bus or taxi that goes 'one-way', you're liable to pay N50000


I can just imagine the scams that'll be pulled by taxi drivers in collusion with the police. Take a passenger down a one-way road, let police grab you and then watch 'em shake down the victim.

c'est la vie.

I have to agree with texazzpete here.

This leaves loopholes for the Pofools Federation of Nigeria to milk commuters. The idea of trying to create sanity in Lagos is a good one but sanity creation should be two ways.

For the commuters to be sane, the authorities have to also be sane.

I wonder how many one way streets in Lagos are properly sign-posted. I wonder what process is in place to resolve the insane traffic obstructions in Lagos as soon as it occurs.

How dare you put people at the risk of fines when your roads are so bad that the only option when a traffic problem occurs e.g. road flooding or accident is to break the law or else move only 100 metres in 6 hours because the authorities don't care or have any process in place to resolve problems as soon as possible? How dare you fine someone if they are not aware of the rules of the road because they are not local and you do not indicate it appropraitely?

I think there should be a time limit of disruption that allows exceptions for people to break the rule. For example if a traffic issue does not show any signs of government representatives appearing on the scene to resolve it within a given period of time (e.g. 3-6 hours) with signs of improvement during their activity then people cannot be penalised for breaking the law and the authorities should be fined.

In a land of useless authorities, survival of the fittest is not a crime.

I think this laws should be reviewed, they are crazy  

If they're on crack, they're on the right kind of crack.  It's about time they divert their attention to cracking down on criminals.  I don't see anything too wrong with this law - except you might argue that the fees and fines are on the high side.  It's definitely a good way to discourage traffic offenders from putting innocent lives at risk everyday.  If that means losing a decent chunk from their already undersized pockets, so be it.  Road safety is very important.  Let's just hope the police officers don't see this as a way to upgrade their pockets.

You underestimate the capacity of the Nigerian police force. If you park your car by the side of the road to buy Suya, it's your word against the Policeman than you didn't abandon the car for an 'unreasonably long' time.

The fines are unreasonably high.

texazzpete:

You underestimate the capacity of the Nigerian police force. If you park your car by the side of the road to buy Suya, it's your word against the Policeman than you didn't abandon the car for an 'unreasonably long' time.

The fines are unreasonably high.

exactly

any law enacted by the government will morph into an excuse for the touts employed by its agencies to shake down nigerians. forget about buying suya - if your car as much as breaks down - u can bet it will be construed as abandonment.

what happened in the indecent dressing/prostitute saga - all manner of women from mothers to schoolgirls were arrested.

there was some sort of task force on internet scams at one time - standard MO , go to a cafe round up everybody, and wait for them to be bailed out. (at exorbitant nigerian police rates, of course)

until you experience it,  you have no idea how all these things are abused by our 'men of the law' and the numerous area boys emplyed as lastma, ferma, and road safety officials.

what is more frighteing is the fct that lagos is in a bid to raise revenue for ll the projects they want to roll out. you can imagine if all these officials have been assigned targets.

the above is one of the reasons it tookk me so long to buy a car, and why i stll prefer to use public transport - altercations  with some frustrated government employed thug/area boy/never do well - who has been given the upper hand is bad for my digestion.

and sagamite raised more vaild points - too many of the roads in lagos are in terrible condition . so what happens only one lane of an expressway is available?

@texazzpete, so i am guessing your problem is with the implementation of the fines by law enforcment agencies? You could argue that like i stated earlier, but for the fines themselves? As for me i don't see the problem with that. @oyb and Sagamite the lagos state government has been rehabilitating roads and building new ones since they got into power and have made a very significant improvement, basically i am lead to believe that even the whole Central business district  has no bad roads, i may be wrong but feel free to correct me and post pictures or whatever if you want. The fines are meant to be a serious deterrent to road violations so you could argue with the enforcement of the fines but by doing so do we even don't know if these raod laws would be enforced by Police officers which you all seem to be assuming would be the case or by lastma officials? Have you ever seen the case in other countries whereby police men of the force enforce traffic laws as opposed to traffic wardens which is the area lastma is supposed to be handling? Why don't we get more info concerning the way these laws will be enforced instead of assuming this and that like most of us seem to be doing? @Sagamite, you say if someone has been in traffic for a while then they should be allowed to break the law and use such as a justification? Now do you know how open to abuse such a system in itself will be in the hands of Nigerians? What would change? I hope you also take into consideration that flouting of laws is what causes so much of the traffic in the first place, street traders and bus drivers and trucks who turn a three lane road into one lane while even the one lane is used as bus stop in itself (can you imagine), i believe lagos state government has banned that now. I see no justification for flouting the traffic laws because you have been "waiting" for a long time because that is just selfishness since people leaving the road and doing something wrong is simply going to cause another traffic jam somewhere else so what does that solve? Sow what did people want the fines to be, 50 to 200 Naira? Considering people already pay more that that in bribery and "thanksgiving" to police officers you think they would mind parting with such sums? Then what is the deterrent? How many accidents have been caused by irritating tanker drivers who drive useless vehicles that sound like they have vehicular diarrhea and then when they break down the truck drivers just leave them there without any proper sign to notify other road users which is very dangerous especially at night and has caused a lot of accidents? Check for yourself and now imagine if such a truck was carrying fuel, imagine the devastation. It is just selfish and inconsiderate and you want the fine for that to be what? Or take driving against traffic, i don't believe i need to write an essay on that but people do it in Nigeria anyway because of this feeling that it is only you in the whole world that is late and has somewhere to be, it is just ridiculous. So what sum do you think would serve a reasonable deterrent for flouting of such laws that cause a lot of inconvenience to other road users and even fatal accidents to some?

deor03:

I think CAMERAS ( even if is mobile camera fixed on cars) should be used as allibi. Otherwise this USELESS, GOOD for Nothing Policemen, will use this to victimice Lagosians

they are doing that already, in fact they write you the wrong receipt

Hi Sky Blue,

Quick advice!

If you are writing a long piece try and break it down into paragraphs or else it becomes very cumbersome and tidious to read.

Sky Blue:

@oyb and Sagamite the lagos state government has been rehabilitating roads and building new ones since they got into power and have made a very significant improvement, basically i am lead to believe that even the whole Central business district  has no bad roads, i may be wrong but feel free to correct me and post pictures or whatever if you want.

Then let them feel free to implement their law on roads that they have rehabilitated. Anybody that is breaking the law where the authorities have made transport conducive definitely has a mental handicap and needs official reevaluation.

Sky Blue:

The fines are meant to be a serious deterrent to road violations so you could argue with the enforcement of the fines but by doing so do we even don't know if these raod laws would be enforced by Police officers which you all seem to be assuming would be the case or by lastma officials? Have you ever seen the case in other countries whereby police men of the force enforce traffic laws as opposed to traffic wardens which is the area lastma is supposed to be handling? Why don't we get more info concerning the way these laws will be enforced instead of assuming this and that like most of us seem to be doing?

I only made the assumption about the police enforcing it because it was easier than segmenting as (1) the mentality of enforcers (Lastma or whoever) would not be different from that of the police, hence the same exposure to abuse but minus gun threat and (2) irrespective of who is allocated responsibility, the police I think would use arbitrary powers to enforce without avenue for victims to complain. You argue too much and it would be "accidental discharge".

Sky Blue:

@Sagamite, you say if someone has been in traffic for a while then they should be allowed to break the law and use such as a justification? Now do you know how open to abuse such a system in itself will be in the hands of Nigerians? What would change? I hope you also take into consideration that flouting of laws is what causes so much of the traffic in the first place, street traders and bus drivers and trucks who turn a three lane road into one lane while even the one lane is used as bus stop in itself (can you imagine), i believe lagos state government has banned that now. I see no justification for flouting the traffic laws because you have been "waiting" for a long time because that is just selfishness since people leaving the road and doing something wrong is simply going to cause another traffic jam somewhere else so what does that solve?

Yep, I knew someone was going to challenge me on this.

And, yes, I stand by that argument. I used to think before that people were mad in Nigeria for the way they drive until I experienced a bit of it.

There was a time I went to visit my aunt in Festac and was trying to get to Ijebu Ode from there. A journey that takes 1hr 30mins, turned into a 7hr journey because of potholed roads between Festac and Mile 2 and no control of traffic despite the severe traffic disruption.

Another case was when my brother married in Ibadan and the guest that left the party at 7pm on their way back to Lagos got home at between 4am to 6am the next day because the stupid authorities allowed so many churches build holy ghost/revival/salvation camps by the motorway.

Those were the factors that contributed to my belief that the major part of the madness should be attributed to the authorities.

My belief is that, if the authorities have no interest to ensure the ease of traffic flow then they have no right in enforcing traffic violations.

You said floating of laws is what causes so much of the traffic in the first place? No, I disgree. It is lack of infrastructure, laws, responsibilties and accountability form the authorities side that INDUCED the madness.

Let me make it clear to you that road madness is not restricted to Nigeria alone even in the UK where I live people have the potential to behave in the same way but don't because of the way the authorities can be relied on to resolve problems as best as they can. So if you are in traffic for 2hrs, their is that belief that the authorities are doing something about it which is contributing to all of us being disciplined. The few occasions I have seen severe traffic of about 3 hours, if you see how the Oyinbo they break laws, you would think you are in Abeokuta at least (not Lagos levels, I know)!

The incompetence and lack of care of Nigeria's authorities is DRASTICALLY reducing the quality of people's life. Alot of the problems that lead to this are easily resolved.

With the appointment to a government position comes responsibility. These people have no right to reduce people's quality of life and expect them to take it or be fined.

What I figured from life is that when no central rules exist, each individual would define his/her bespoke rule. Hence majority would be anti-altruistic rules that would inevitably lead to clashes of individual interest.

The authorities need to first undertake their responsibility before penalising those that are trying to get on with their life. E.g.

Even if they don't have traffic lights, have traffic wardens.
When there is severe congestion due to bad roads (they know the ones that are major problems), go out there and use bollards to demarcate good roads so traffic can share and keep things moving instead of leaving people to their plights.

Once they start doing this or they have made a road conducive, then they can start fining.

Another thing, is it not insane to fine a passenger in a car? Who is the idiotic genius that came up with that.

@Sagamite, you really want to even begin to compare driving in the UK to driving in Nigeria? The difference is very clear and i say that from experiences and observations as i am sure you do too. You said flouting of traffic laws is not the problem but lack of infrastrucure (which is already being seriously addressed), laws (which is what is being addressed and let us not be coy, road laws are already in place people just choose not to obey them), and responsibilties and accountability from the authorities (which is also being addressed via lastma). Even with all of that, i disagree with absolving the people from the blame. That whole issue about road side churches and revivals is also being addressed and just serves as a footnote to the culture of anything goes without consequences attatched that has become common practice in Nigeria.

If you want to make the issue about enforcing the fines properly then make it so. Do any of us know wether the fines are to be paid to lastma officials or wether offenders are just given a notification or ticket and registration taken whereby they have to pay to Lastma? And yet all these assumptions are just being made. What is ther point of a deterrent if it does not deter you. What are the fines for smoking in the railway stations and the underground in UK? What is the fine for jumping on the track? Please inform the people. Even being caught on a train without a valid ticket makes the offender liable to prosecution. If you choose to disregard laws then why the shock when you become liable to punishment?

Driving in Nigeria is crazy because people choose to flout laws and there is some sought of sick twisted culture of this all over the place, fines are put in place to deter people from flouting such laws and putting order in the system. And yet the fines are wrong and are to blame instead of the practice of road abuse and violations that causes a lot of accidents and incoveniece to others? If you are willing to flout the law then you do so at your own risk and you should be content with living with the consequences. If you are willing to diregard the law then be willing to take some responsibility as well. The funny thing about this is that the issue being complained about is not even the law, but the law enforcement and we have all been complaining that laws are not being enforced. Let us stop being hypocritical with this, we complain when government officials steal and enrich themselves with public money while doing nothing and then after all that nothing happens but we want thesame to be applied to us when we break the law? The fines are not a new law of some sort, they are fines meant to serve as a deterrent and punishment for breaking already existing laws.

I am very surprise that some Nigerians support the outrageous fine for just traffic offense, i am sure that these are not lagosians. If you have loved in lagos for any leght of time, the you will have the experience of trying to keep your sanity after spending 6 - 8 hour at Lagos Ibadan Expressway (redeem camp) or after a heavy downpour or accident on any major road.

I do not support breaking traffic rules, but it is wrong to blame and punish poor suffering Lagosians living on the edge of existence. Why do you supporter not ponder why the insane lagosian becomes very normal once he leaves lagos and travels to other capital cities of the world. How do you expect people to pay N50,000, when the average monthly wage is less than N30,000. Take a good look at most of the cars on Lagos roads, they are just managing to be road worthy. I also wish the Government, Police, Lastma, Lawma, VIO, Yellow fever, Kia brigade, and others too, should have some form of fines and punishment for negligence of duty, As a lot of traffic is deliberately cause by them, so that their agents can collect money from commercial drivers and other road users for alleged offenses.

The problem with lagos traffic is not the laws as the fines are already very steep, It is in the implementation of the laws, the officials collect their own special fees for various offences, with the lagos state government getting little or nothing. If and when the various agencies decides to earn their wages, the traffic situation in lagos would improve.

Even if the fines are imposted correctly as it is before the increase, most people would be forced to abandon their cars at the various agencies offices. Go to your nearest lastma office and see the number of abandoned vehicles.


@Skyblue
You are talking as if we are in an idea society, when you say people chose to flout the law and so should face the consequences, i would ask you which people? The reason ordinary people flout the law is because the see different categories of people break the law with impunity and nothing happens and in fact the are celebrated for being able to break the law ( a sort of status symbol). We have Politicians, Uniformed men (any uniform, even boys scout and NYSC), Big men and even Judges break the law, so people also follow them in breaking the Law. You will find out that when you see people driving one way, it would have been initiated by big men (untouchables)

Sky Blue:

@Sagamite, you really want to even begin to compare driving in the UK to driving in Nigeria? The difference is very clear and i say that from experiences and observations as i am sure you do too.

No, I am not comparing overall driving in UK to Nigeria. Obviously the difference is clear. What I was comparing is the induced driving behaviours from traffic disruption duress which is almost the same.

The british people are not more sane than us. If they face the same difficulties then they are going to react in almost the same way. I have seen it in the UK where people drive over pavements or against traffic AT A ROUNDABOUT (not motorway) to get to an exit 10 metres ahead when the traffic was horrible.

The reasons why the british drivers do not degenerate to Nigerian driver levels are because:

1) One is confident that authorities are responding to issues as they occur.
2) The roads are well constructed and have physical barriers that prevent some lunatic manuevres.
3) There are mobile and static monitors (e.g. policemen, cameras) that deter lunatic behaviour or catch offenders which Lagos does not have.
4) One is guaranteed that if caught behaving badly, one would face the severe consequences. There is no "Olopa, abeg Sir. N20 re for your backhand".
5) They average British driver have no experience of driving like madmen, unlike Lagos where even 60 year old women are experts.

As wirinet asked:"Why do you supporter not ponder why the insane lagosian becomes very normal once he leaves lagos and travels to other capital cities of the world?"

Sky Blue:

You said flouting of traffic laws is not the problem but lack of infrastrucure (which is already being seriously addressed), laws (which is what is being addressed and let us not be coy, road laws are already in place people just choose not to obey them), and responsibilties and accountability from the authorities (which is also being addressed via lastma). Even with all of that, i disagree with absolving the people from the blame. That whole issue about road side churches and revivals is also being addressed and just serves as a footnote to the culture of anything goes without consequences attatched that has become common practice in Nigeria.

I will start from the bottom here. This is the perfect example why I said the sanity is two way.

Who is responsible for the debacle of road side churches? Is it not the authorities that gave planning permission without the relevant/right traffic simulation test?

This was why I said earlier that: "The authorities need to first undertake their responsibility before penalising those that are trying to get on with their life."

In regards to infrastructure, I don't live in Lagos so I will have to take your word for it. I am a bit sceptic because this was the same praise I heard about Tinubu but when I went to Nigeria, I could not see it. It seems the expectations standard of Nigerians is at its dire to the point any huff-n-puff of activity is regarded as the best thing done by governement in the last 500 years.

In regards to law, I still stand by my argument. You have to first develop (or at least be aggressively developing) the structure and infrastructure before you can start applying laws. I am one that is against demolition of ghettos (after people have lived there for many years) without first providing alternative residence. It was the authorities fault at first to have let people settle down their and made it their home. you don't just wake up and now say you want to enforce the law.

In regards to responsibilties and accountability from the authorities, all this have to be in place before (or at least concurrently with) law enforcement or else it is putting the cart before the horse. Once you do this, and people are still breaking the law, then you know those people need a mental review.

Someone that needs N20,000 a month to meet his essential needs but scrapes N18,000 on average (when lucky hits N21,000) is caught up in your incompetence that is costing him per hour and you want to fine him. These danfo boys are crazy but they are mainly crazy because if they don't rush, they don't eat. So slowing them down in 4 hour traffic does not milk their goat.

Sky Blue:

If you want to make the issue about enforcing the fines properly then make it so. Do any of us know wether the fines are to be paid to lastma officials or wether offenders are just given a notification or ticket and registration taken whereby they have to pay to Lastma? And yet all these assumptions are just being made. What is ther point of a deterrent if it does not deter you. What are the fines for smoking in the railway stations and the underground in UK? What is the fine for jumping on the track? Please inform the people. Even being caught on a train without a valid ticket makes the offender liable to prosecution. If you choose to disregard laws then why the shock when you become liable to punishment?

My issue is not the amount of the fine or mainly the implementation of it. It is mainly that authorities have to do their bit before being able to impose fines.

You are talking about the UK, do you think I would have any obligation to pay a fine if the ticket office is closed and the ticket machine is not working in the station I enter the train from? I don't even have an obligation to pay a fine in the underground if there is no sign indicating that smoking is banned.

That is exactly my point, the London Transport people have to do their bit before being able to impose a fine.

As wirinet said: "I also wish the Government, Police, Lastma, Lawma, VIO, Yellow fever, Kia brigade, and others too, should have some form of fines and punishment for negligence of duty."

Sky Blue:

Let us stop being hypocritical with this, we complain when government officials steal and enrich themselves with public money while doing nothing and then after all that nothing happens but we want thesame to be applied to us when we break the law? The fines are not a new law of some sort, they are fines meant to serve as a deterrent and punishment for breaking already existing laws.

Again as wirinet said: "The problem with lagos traffic is not the laws as the fines are already very steep, It is in the implementation of the laws, the officials collect their own special fees for various offences, with the lagos state government getting little or nothing."

It is very unlikely that a large proportion of these fines would not be looted. Although we just have to give them benefit of doubt (or at least pray it does not happen).

@Sagamite sorry but i will have to disagree with you on this because again what is going on here is just continuous assumptions being made when i am guessing not even you know how the fines are going to be implemented and integrated into the system.

@wirinet really do think about the question you asked, why on earth is it that someone who acts crazy in lawless in Nigeria can act sane and respect laws in other countries? It is very interesting that you immediately seemed to go straight to blaming the Nigerian "system" for this instead of aknowleging the fact that other countries have law and order which Nigeria does not have. No stupid person will try the level of disregard for law and order shown in Nigeria abroad why? Because they will get punished for it and they know it won't be like Nigeria where you can get away because you know somebody. Offences are liable to punishment which they rightly should be. Saying that we are not living in an "ideal" enviroment just seems like excuses made for not doing the right thing. So it is only in another country that the right thing should be done? And then when some attempt at installing order in Nigeria is being made by deterring people from violating laws which can be fatal to others is put in place it then becomes unfeasible because Nigeria is not "ideal"? So is England or America a Utopia of some sort? WOW, I just simply don't get this line of reasoning to say the least.

If people want to make this an issue about enforcing of the fines when they don't even know how such is going to be conducted then fine, but i will not and we are actually beginning to go round in circles. I for one do not object to these fines, if people have to be scared into obeying the law and installing some form of order in the mayhem that is lagos then so be it.

This is a very stupid law.

How the hell can you fine the passenger of a vehicle? The driver should be purnished not his passenger. Did this go through the house of assembly?

What next? If a driver knocks down a pedestrian then the passenger will join him in jail for manslaughter?

Nigeria is so messed up that politicians can wake and enact strange laws in a bid to help their area boys loot money from innocent people.

Too hell with my job, I'm applying for LASMA.

Damn!!!

somze:

This is a very stupid law.

How the hell can you fine the passenger of a vehicle?

Yes, I believe it is wrong for the law to mandate a passenger to pay any fines. The vehicle driver should be held
responsible, fair and square.

debosky:

actually it says if you are a driver in a NON-COMMERCIAL vehicle, so it is not directed at passengers in buses or taxis.

What are you saying?

Can you mention anywhere in the world where passengers are fined for the actions of the drivers in a non-commercial vehicle?

This is absurd!

Haaaaaaaaa this people wan build house.

Reading though what everyone has said, I think some have made very good sense of this discussion while others in their usual character are just being critical and sentimental because they may be guilty of the offences.

I dare say here that spending hours in traffic MUST NOT translate into jumping on the other side of the road and creating 4 lanes caring less about those legally meant to be on that side.

A lot of private car owners in Lagos have had the privilege of traveling abroad and even driving there. CAN THEY DARE THAT SORT OF DRIVING THERE?

If you know you do not earn the kind of money that has been placed as fines, you BEHAVE yourself on the road. I know I can never fall to the temptation of driving against the traffic.

Nigerians LOVE to do it. If you dare correct them they tell you the story of your life.

As for the fine extending to the passengers, I also agree 100%. Why?

Most of the commercial drivers are encouraged by passengers in a "hurry" to drive on the wrong side. Even passengers in a private vehicle will not question the driver of the vehicle when he does such.

Some "big" men sit at the back of their card pretending to be reading while their drivers break laws. It is when the wahala comes that they come down and speak rubbish English when it would only have taken them to just instruct them not to do so.

Even if it is not so in other countries we can start it here. They say necessity is the mother of invention.

I swore never to drive in a particular friends car. Simply because his wife works with the army (civilian) he hs become a "soldier" himself. We were in traffic in Gbagada one afternoon and the next thing he makes a u turn on the expressway and heads towards the bridge and drives against traffic. I WAS ASHAMED.

I had to ask him to drop me and left him to go to our destination alone.

Me thinks, we all need to be PERSONALLY DISCIPLINED.

The level of decency and appropriateness in Nigerians is very low.

We are all ogas.

I believe this will work. Remember what people said about BRT. If they could figure out how to effectively monitor BRT and make it work, I KNOW and BELIEVE this won't be an issue for them also.

Even now only heady people d are drive on the BRT lane. Others no want wahala of N25,000.

winnteam:



As for the fine extending to the passengers, I also agree 100%. Why?

Most of the commercial drivers are encouraged by passengers in a "hurry" to drive on the wrong side. Even passengers in a private vehicle will not question the driver of the vehicle when he does such.

What about the passengers that do not encourage drivers to drive recklessly/on the wrong side of the road ? There are women that
plead with their husbands while driving to take it easy and not drive on the wrong side of the road.

Do you think it's fair for these people to pay the fines too ? I think not !

@Arnorld1 i find it interesting that it was only for one way driving that the passenger becomes liable, why do you think that is? Let us put one way driving in perspective especially on an express road. One way driving is nothing short of complete and utter stupidity, blatant hooliganism and lawlessness which can easily lead to fatality of passengers on not just the path of the offender but also on the side of innocent drivers who are obeying the laws and driving on lanes designated for that direction and not expecting that someone would be so stupid as to defiantly drive in the opposite direction as if they are the only ones in the whole world that need to get somewhere.

Even i can see that the purpose of that particular fine is to encourage passengers to demand compliance with the law from their drivers. This looking the other way and letting people carry on with breaking the law especially on the road where it can easily cause death or disability is just something i don't get and would never try to justify. If someone says he/she was desperately begging the driver of the vehicle to stop driving on the wrong side of the road then he/she can take it to court because that is what they are there for.

As long as the fines are not paid to officers but paid to the lastma public account/treasury and the public is made aware that this is how it is meant to be then these fines are welcome (for me anyway). If you don't want to be fined then respect the law.

Both schools have strong points in my opinion the underlying success of the law has to do with the implementation and alternatives, which is the responsiblity of the state first.

You cant have policemen on the road with no iota of credibility enforcing laws, we always seem to take the short cut to solving societal problems. The truth is there is no short cut.

If the rule will be applied to all inclucding Fashola himself, soldiers senior police officials, politicians. Then it is wellcomed, but when some will flaunt it easily and get away with away, where is the legitimacy to say others should obey it.

Where politicians and senior military/police personnel use sirens to move through traffic, when they are not on essential duty (ambulance or fire), why should others be made to stay in traffic.

Please this is absolute nonsense, the civil rights movement started by questioningg unjust laws, it is unjust for Fashola to move through traffic quickly and others made to be in traffic.

The problem might need such extreme measure, but the flip side is that it is unjust for the govt to attempt to implement it, when it cant get the basics right, fix roads, expand the BRT (provide alternatives), rennovate and introduce the trains back provide alternatives, enforce the law to cover ALL.

In the interim before u get that right, as the govt cant just sit and do nothing now, there is a problem, so have reasonable fines. Recognise the imperfection of enforcement, the law should make common sense,create avenues for people to contest decisions and be serious about it, the right to appeal should be recognised , enforcement to ALL, soon it will be the people enforcing it and not the state.

@away4real, do you know whether or not Fashola flouts traffic laws or uses sirens? Please ask and verify as it has been reported he does not use sirens and moves with everyone else. Again that lack of good roads is a very poor excuse at best for flouting and disregarding road laws especially since such behaviour can be fatal and affects everybody. Also, i hope you are aware that the whole issue of bad roads is seriously being addressed in Lagos? I am not even in lagos and i know what is going on, just do some research and find out for yourself. So before every single road is fixed and paved and lined with flowers (which is what is being worked towards) then people can continue to disregard the law and cause headache for everyone else? The fines are there to deter people from breaking the law, if you are not set or intent on breaking the law then why break sweat over the issue?

Yes the Lagos State Govt are on crack!!!

standing at the risk of sounding prejudiced, i would like to fault the reasoning of Texaspete on this issue.
exactly what are you driving at?
that those mad drivers in Lagos should be let off the hook with lesser penalties?
or that the Lagos state government does not have the right to administer laws that aim to serve our lives?
or that you have lost your ability to reason objectively?
or you just have nothing to say?

i am confused dude!

@Sky Blue
Thank you my brother. I do not understand why our people like to defend wrong things even they know the wrong in them.

bibiking1:

standing at the risk of sounding prejudiced, i would like to fault the reasoning of Texaspete on this issue.
exactly what are you driving at?
that those mad drivers in Lagos should be let off the hook with lesser penalties?
or that the Lagos state government does not have the right to administer laws that aim to serve our lives?
or that you have lost your ability to reason objectively?
or you just have nothing to say?

i am confused dude!

Help ask him o!.

In my own opinion again, I believe no nonNigerian can solve our problems for us. We do not need to copy laws from other countries.

We are know that most Nigerians will never do the right thing unless someone stands behind them with a koboko. So laws specific to Nigeria should be enacted to save this nation.

Have you notice that even when ou travel to other states the first people to begin driving on the other side of the road most times are Lagos divers?

All the people I have discussed this matter with are in full support of the development.

Recently, the landlord s association on my street decided to ask all the people (90% of them do not even live on the street) trading along the road on my street to leave. They have so narrowed the street that there is always log jams in the mornings.

The next thing is that people are complaining that "we" want to stop them from living.

Is that the issue? The issue is you are blocking free flow of traffic and the setback have been reclaimed by the gulty landlords.

They trade and make money, they do not pay tax and will not go a hire a shop.

Only God will deliver this nation O!