Road Safety
Do you know Lynda La Plante? She is British. Not Nigerian. If you are a freaky sports person, her name may not ring a bell as it has nothing to do with the bidding war between top Premiership Clubs in snatching grade A players to boost their title credentials especially with the exit of Pep Guardiola, the former Manchester City Coach. His absence has created a gap to be filled by the horde of his protegee coaches especially the likes of Arsenal, Mikel Arteta, Manchester City new Manager, Enzo Maresca as well as Xabi Alonso, the helmsman at Chelsea.
Well, Linda is British author, screenwriter and former actress best known for her crime works. She is best known for creating the acclaimed police procedural series Prime Suspect in 1991, which starred Helen Mirren as the iconic DCI Jane Tenison. She is also known for other successful television dramas like Trial and Retribution and has to her credit, nearly 40 bestselling crime and mystery novels.
For the records, this piece is not dedicated to her but the British celebrity reportedly received driving penalties over the years especially her recent six-month driving ban which I stumbled on recently and thought to use as a baseline on the issue of adopting penalty point system in our clime as a strategic intervention against irresponsible driving or better still unsafe driving behavior.
According to the report, the celebrated crime writer received the six-month ban after accumulating excessive penalty points once again and this has drawn attention to one of the most effective yet underutilized road safety intervention globally-the drivers penalty point system. Her fate is a reminder that no one, regardless of social status, celebrity, wealth, influence, or political clout should be above the law when public safety is at stake.
Daily, our roads, both within the city centers, highways as well as built up areas witness tragedies that are preventable entirely. Excessive speeding, reckless overtaking, dangerous lane changing, drunk driving, distracted driving caused by mobile phones and sheer disregard for traffic signs continue to claim thousands of lives and various degrees of injuries.
While the Federal Road Safety Corps as well as State Traffic Agencies such as Lagos State Traffic Management Agency among others focus on strengthening fines and prosecution, studies globally show that financial penalties alone are not sufficient to reform habitual traffic offenders. The penalty points system provides a smarter and more sustainable approach which the Corps is tinkering with to give further bite.
Unlike fines that many offenders simply pay without changing their behavior, penalty points accumulate on a driver’s license following every serious traffic infraction. The more dangerous the offence, the higher the number of points imposed. Once the accumulated points reach a prescribed threshold, consequences become increasingly severe, including mandatory driver improvement courses, license suspension, and eventually outright disqualification from driving.
This approach attacks irresponsible driving from two directions. It punishes today’s offence while discouraging tomorrow’s violation. The beauty of the system lies in its fairness. It does not discriminate between the rich and the poor, the famous and ordinary citizens, not the political heavy weights who think they are above the law. Every driver starts with a clean record and every offence leaves a mark.
Overtime, responsible drivers preserve their licenses while habitual offenders progressively lose the privilege of using public roads. Driving after all, is not a fundamental right as provided in IV (Sections 33-46) of the 1999 Constitution as amended which guarantees basic civil and liberties to all individuals safeguarding them from state and private infringements. It is a privilege granted by society with the expectation that the holder will exercise responsibility, caution, and respect for other road users.
Countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, France, Singapore and several Canadian Provinces have demonstrated that well managed demerit point systems significantly improves driver behaviours. Drivers become more conscious of speed limits, traffic lights, pedestrian crossing and seatbelt regulations because every violation threatens not just their wallets but their driving privileges.
Behavioural science supports this approach. Human beings generally respond more strongly to the possibility of losing an important privilege than to paying money. A businessman may easily pay a traffic fine. A celebrity may hardly notice another ticket. But the possibility of losing the ability to drive to work, attend meetings or travel independently often becomes a powerful incentive for compliance.
In our clime road traffic enforcement still relies heavily on spot fines, public enlightenment campaigns among other campaign strategies. While these measures remain important, they often fail to identify repeat offenders. A driver who has committed ten dangerous offences over several years may continue driving because each violation is treated in isolation rather than as part of a behavioral pattern.
Imagine a national electronic database linked to every driver’s license. Each conviction for speeding, dangerous driving, drunk driving, reckless overtaking, phone use while driving, or failure to obey traffic signals would automatically attract predetermined penalty points. Law enforcement officers anyway in the country could instantly assess the driver’s record. Insurance companies could assess risk more accurately. Employers of commercial drivers would know whether their drivers pose safety risks. Repeat offenders could be identified before they become involved in a fatal road traffic crash.
Such a system would transform road safety management from reactive enforcement to proactive prevention which is the trust of the current leadership despite the absence of the appropriate infrastructure to drive this novelty. Commercial drivers deserve particular attention. Drivers of buses, trucks and taxis transport dozens of passengers daily. A single irresponsible commercial driver can destroy multiple families in one collision. Penalty points would encourage companies to monitor their drivers more closely while rewarding those with exemplary safety records.
However, implementing a penalty point requires transparency and technology integrity. Driver’s must have the right to know how many points they have accumulated and to challenge wrongful entries through a fair appeals process. Electronic systems should minimize opportunities for corruption while ensuring that points cannot be erased through unofficial means. Public education would also be essential. Citizens should understand that the objective is not to punish motorists unnecessarily but to protect lives. Every suspended license potentially represents crashes prevented, injuries avoided and families spared the agony of losing loved ones.
I must give the Corps its flowers for the significant progress made in digital enforcement, drivers license administration and traffic law enforcement. The icing would be in the introduction of a comprehensive penalty points system which would complement these reforms by creating continuous accountability rather than one-time punishment. Technology has made such reforms easier than before. Automatic number plate recognition cameras, speed cameras, digital licensing databases and mobile enforcement devices can seamlessly integrate with a national demerit points platform. Artificial intelligence could even identify repeat behavioral patterns and support targeted interventions to fight high risk drivers. I know all of these would ease the burden of enforcement, reduce deaths arising to operatives and further project the Corps data driven profile. Such intervention comes with substantial economic benefits especially against the backdrop of the enormous costs of road crashes through medical treatment, vehicle damage, productivity losses, insurance claims and infrastructure repairs. Every serious crash saves governments, businesses and families millions of naira while preserving invaluable human lives. Ultimately, road safety is less about roads than about behavior. Engineering can build better highways; Vehicles can become safer. Emergency services can improve trauma care. But unless drivers behave responsibly, preventable crashes will continue. This is why the penalty points system deserves serious consideration and push as a cornerstone of modern traffic law enforcement. It recognizes a simple truth; dangerous driving is rarely an isolated mistake. It is often a repeated behavioral pattern that should be identified and corrected before it results in tragedy.
The reported suspension of the celebrated writer’s driving privilege serves as a powerful lesson. The law achieved its purpose not by targeting fame but by protecting society. That is precisely how justice should work. We can draw valuable lessons from such experience. A transparent, technology-driven penalty points system would send an unmistakable message that the privilege of driving belongs only to those who respect the rules designed to keep everyone alive.
On our roads, accountability saves lives. Penalty points simply ensure that accountability follows every journey. As we recognize government efforts in driving road safety management in our clime, we however plead with the government to support the Corps Marshal and his teams to up the ante.