MANAGING SPEED ON NIGERIAN ROADS by JONAS AGWU Speed management encompasses a range of measures aimed at balancing safety and Efficiency of vehicle speeds on a road network. It aims to reduce the incidence of driving too fast for the prevailing conditions, and to maximize compliance with speed limits. An appropriate speed, in the context of a safe system, is a speed level that considers traffic safety as the main goal, in the context of mobility and prevailing conditions such as roadside development, the mix of users along the road, the frequency of access to the road (including intersections), the volume and mix of traffic, environmental concerns and the quality of life for residents living along the road. The management of drivers’ speed involves a wide range of measures including setting and enforcing of speed limits; engineering measures designed to reduce speed, as well as public education and awareness campaigns. Managing vehicle speed is complex and difficult, because of the number of opposing factors that need to be overcome. There are many reasons why individual drivers speed. Travelling at higher speed offers the immediate ‘reward’ (as a perception) of a shorter journey time. This benefit is reinforced every time a driver undertakes a journey and travels above the speed limit without any adverse consequence. Importantly, while speeding has been established as a causative factor in a very high percentage of serious and fatal road crashes, however, from an individual driver’s point of view, the chance of having a serious crash as a result of exceeding the speed limit is quite low, making the speed-crash threat less of a consideration by drivers compared with the speed-penalty threat. The circumstances of individual trips can influence a driver’s choice of speed. For example, if the vehicle is owned by an employer, the driver may be tempted to drive at higher speed. When an individual is under pressure or feels the need to rush, unsafe speeds may be selected. Sometimes drivers and riders speed just for fun. Drivers will frequently claim that they were unaware of the speed limit, hence the need for adequate signs, even though ignorance is no defence. Importantly, some researchers believe that people always tend to optimize the level of risk behaviour they engage in, such that they choose to drive faster on ‘safer’ roads, especially if they perceive little risk of enforcement activity. Others have found that driving fast gives a sense of thrill or achievement. Most drivers in Nigeria consider themselves above average in terms of skill. A number of surveys conducted demonstrate that up to 75% of drivers think they are an above average, low-risk driver. For that reason, drivers believe they can travel above the limit and not place themselves at high risk. In any event, many regard the limits as arbitrary and do not fully understand the greater risks associated with even increases in speed. Additionally, an important factor in Nigeria is pressure that is applied by Fleet Managers and employers to be more productive (i.e. drive faster) while public transport operators and the drivers themselves come under pressure to stick to challenging timetables, and even race to pick up passengers and goods. Speed management aims to reduce the number of road traffic crashes and the serious injury and death that can result from them. Speed management needs to employ a range of measures that will include enforcement, engineering and education. The more widespread the measures, particularly enforcement, and the greater the range, severity and implementation of sanctions against speeding, the more compliance will result. To achieve wide public acceptance of enforcement, speed limits need to be appropriate. The safe system in managing speed is to achieve a road system that allows for human error without leading to death or serious injury. It recognizes the limits of force that the human body can survive and focuses on systematically addressing various factors involved in specific crash types to reduce the risk of injury. Crashes are always likely to happen, even though there is a continuing focus on prevention. The Safe-system approach aims to minimize the severity of injury when a crash occurs and is based on the premise that road users should not die because of system failings. Carefully targeted, wide-scale infrastructure programmes, vehicle safety improvements and enforcing appropriate speed limits will reduce the likelihood of crashes occurring and reduce their severity to survivable levels. For example, it is not feasible to lower speeds on rural roads to 50 km/h (the speed at which a sideimpact collision would be survivable) if there are trees or poles adjacent to the roadway. The answer lies in removal of the hazards or installation of protective barriers on roads. Other measures to reduce the likelihood of vehicle-control loss, or vehicles leaving the road, could also be considered, including provision of sealed shoulders and audible edge lining, together with vehicles being equipped with electronic stability control features. Furthermore, speed limits of 30–50 km/h in areas of higher pedestrian crash risk (from vehicles) will substantially reduce pedestrian fatality risks. While ensuring that new roads provide improved levels of safety, the real challenge is how to set and enforce speed limits on the existing road network. If the speeds are too high because of the road standard (high crash-risk) and infrastructure, solutions are not cost effective (E.g. low volumes/low crash Numbers), there will be a need to lower and enforce the existing speed limits. Agwu, a Corps Commander, is Corps Public Educations Officer, Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Aug 2013 05:23:04 +0000
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