Still On Arsenal’s Triumph and Safe Driving – THISDAYLIVE

Road Safety

As I draw the curtain on this piece which may have pitched me against my editor or even some of my friends, let me start by wishing my Muslim readers, Happy Eid el-Kabir, praying that this Sallah brings them and their beloved family peace, joy, good health and countless blessings. To my Christian readers and others whose faith I may not be able to properly place, I wish you goodness and plenty of blessings.

To my editors, I hail you for doing a great job and for being extremely patient with me, especially as I savor the joy of being a Gunner, an English Premiership League Champion, awaiting another trophy today by His Grace and mercies. As a reminder, I wish to again ask if you know what being skilled means? Are you one?

Last week I reminded you that skilled drivers don’t weave through traffic at dangerous and risky speeds. As you ponder, please let us reflect on Arsenal and their thirty-eight games; last week I told you that the team now termed ‘’the Unforgettable’’, according to critics, sometimes play boring and sometimes entertaining and tactical football. You can read the details in the first edition.

 For today, I wish to whet your appetite by reeling out the statistics; Arsenal spent thirty-two weeks out of thirty-eight, on top of the league. They kept seventeen clean sheets, including six in the final nine matches, more than every other team. Also, we had the best goal difference. While on the last day, we finished seven points ahead of our albatross; Manchester City.

 I won’t bore you with the points ahead of those who are still reeling in hatred. To prove that we are a team made of steel, we conceded no penalty, no red card, conceded the least goal, had the highest goal difference, as well as the highest number of clean sheets. Even in the UEFA league, we showed that our statistics in the EPL was no fluke.  

So, what is the lesson from our triumph? Every team or system should balance ambition with caution. So too must drivers. Unfortunately, drivers who avoid running the red or those conscious of the green man to give way to pedestrians receive all the bashing for time wasting.

The lane discipline drivers are termed sluggish and bullied by impatient drivers. Yet drivers who break the rule by overloading their vehicles, estimate the little cash as a big win above their precious life while commercial motorcycles popularly called ‘okada’ mimic race drivers. They forget that some of our health centers need fixing to deliver efficient services.

Do you know that crashes are inevitable because we throw caution to the wind? When next they occur, don’t blame witches but your careless driving. Some call these crashes and deaths destiny but driving impaired is not destiny. Neither is driving with substandard tyres nor excessively speeding destiny. Nor is driving under the influence or wrongful overtaking destiny. Patience, the kind displayed by Arsenal for twenty-two years is what we need, not impatience.

The umpire in a football game ensures rules are obeyed by every actor to avoid, commotion, mayhem and fisticuffs. Just like in football, traffic rules are the umpire to enhance safety, sanity and cut down avoidable mishaps. The rules are not punitive. They are there to protect every road user.

So, when next you see the red light, consider its value. When you daze at your speedometer on your dashboard, reflect on why despite the speed of almost 280km/h provided by the profit thinking manufacturers of vehicles, you are restricted to do a hundred kilometers or less per hour. Remember that that car seat belt is there to keep you restrained in the event of a road crash and not stain your expensive caftan.

When next you hit the road, stop the bragging about your skills. About your invincible talisman. About your immunity, which is an illusion. Don’t think you can’t be involved in a fatal crash. Don’t brag about your American spec car with uncountable airbags.

 Seatbelts? Strap it. Strap every occupant, including your little lovely gift from God. Don’t brag about your safety record as the best driver in stunts. Drive safe. Comply with the rules. Share the road with others, Be patient. Nobody cares whether your car is the latest bought for millions. It still kills. And can kill you.

Speed, I have written several times, gives no one a trophy. Avoid the gamble with speed. It kills. It maims. It wipes families in a split second. It accounts for most deaths. Obey speed in built-up areas and on highways. Speed limits are specific to vehicles and roads. Obey them, don’t drive at your whims. Obey.

Remember the lesson about teamwork which got Arsenal the trophy. Everyone played their role; from the players to the coaching staff, the medical team among others. Road safety requires the same team work, cooperation among all road users from drivers to pedestrians, to law enforcers, policy makers, transport unions, road engineers and all.

Like we say in defensive driving, remember that you must treat every other driver as a mad man. Remember that your safety and compliance depend on the other road users. What this means is that you may obey the signalized traffic lights only to be killed by a distracted driver.

For those familiar with Abuja, pedestrians’ bridges constructed by the government with support sometimes from others like the World Bank are ignored by pedestrians who get knocked and killed. Instead of inducing traffic officers with bribes, please compliance is needed to keep you and others safe.

Road safety is a collective and shared responsibility. From parents who must teach and be road safety ambassadors on road discipline which has claimed millions of lives all because of disobedience. In the words of former Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety, Osita Chidoka, learning safe driving begins from that little estate road where you think compliance is not needed.

If you fail the safety test in your estate roads or Abuja roads, you will be a maniac when you hit the expressway. In the words of God Almighty in His Holy book, he who is faithful in little will be faithful in much. We must expand the scope of road safety education not just to our child but to all road users.

We must build safety habits the same way Max Dowman of Arsenal at sixteen has imbibed the football skills to make a mess of adults in a game they should brag about their experience. The way we rehearse academics with our children, is the same way, if not more, that we should give priority to teaching safety on our roads.

 While for football it is training, tactical discipline and fitness, in road safety, driving safely is a function of daily responsible behavior such as seatbelt usage always, tyre check, speed limit compliance and driving sober without alcohol intake. It is also about avoiding distractions and being extremely patient as well as ensuring that the vehicle meets minimum safety standards.

Patience is the missing virtue on our roads as everybody, including motorcyclists and pedestrians, are in a hurry. As we celebrate Arsenal’s triumph with funfair to the envy of our competitor, we must strive to sing the same over victory on road carnage; devoid of fatal crashes, deaths and injuries, devoid of strange calls announcing another crash and multiple deaths or another hit and run caused by a reckless driver.

After three decades plus of the onerous job of the Federal Road Safety Corps in policing our roads and driving road safety advocacies and awareness, I believe it is time for us collectively to ponder and drive safely by complying with the rules, so we can celebrate driving and arriving safe as a nation.

This is because, at the end of every journey, whether in football or on the highway, the winners are those who make it to the final whistle and those who get to the final destination unscratched. As we ponder on another time of festivities, please think safety. Think life. Think love and think caution and shared responsibility as you navigate the roads.