Faulty traffic lights worry Abuja residents

Traffic lights are signaling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings and other locations to control flows of traffic.

Normally, traffic lights follow a universal colour code of green, red and amber lights which alternate the right of way accorded to road users for the purpose of ensuring orderliness on the road.

There are over 200 traffic light intersections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to ensure smooth movements of road users.

However, the non-functionality of some of these traffic lights for a long time, have become source of worries to motorists and other road users.

Some of the residents who spoke on the situation, attribute the non-functional traffic lights to be among the leading causes of road accidents in the territory.

Among the traffic intersections identified by residents to be notorious to faulty traffic lights are Wuse Market, Chida Hotel Junction, Utako, Jabi Garage, Gwarimpa Flyover from Life Camp Roundabout, Durumi Junction along Oladipo Diya Way in Gudu, Garki Ultramodern Market Junction on Ahmadu Bello Way and intersections on Yakubu Gowon Crescent, Asokoro, amongst others.

A check by our reporter showed that the traffic lights at some of the identified intersections were functional as at the time he visited but some motorists said it would only be for a short time before they go amber.

“I think the government forgot that when the traffic lights were functional, some motorists still try beating it thereby causing accidents. So the functionality of the traffic lights does not guarantee that there will not be accidents because some of the road users needed to see a psychiatrist. But if the traffic lights are functional, I can assure you that road accidents especially at intersections will be reduced. Now imagine a situation when the traffic lights were not functional,” Charles Ijeh, a road user said.

Ijeh said, “I was almost hit by a motorist while trying to link the road to Next Cash and Carry (Ahmadu Bello Way) from Kado Estate. Despite waiting patiently, I was almost run over by a truck. It was so close that I was awed for several minutes to a spot.”

Not everybody was able to escape without a scratch to his car or live to tell the tales as Ijeh.

According to a 2019 Road Traffic Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the FCT tops in the cases of road crashes with 1,269 incidents. Of these cases, 45 were caused by sign light violation, 66 by route violation and 28 by road obstruction violation.

The crashes might be connected to the increasing number of vehicles on FCT roads. The NBS statistics also showed that 85, 147 National Driver’s Licences were produced in the FCT.

A taxi driver, Mohammed Kasumu said though the number of traffic lights on FCT roads had increased, he expressed concern on the functionality of the traffic lights.

“I remember a few years ago, there were no traffic lights but traffic wardens were those controlling the traffic. But at major intersections, there were traffic lights to lessen the burden of the police officers. But it is not always that those lights work while others are ineffective.

“There was time that the traffic light at Chida Hotel, Utako was faulty for more than two weeks. You see accidents mostly daily at the junction,” he said adding that on such occasions, there were dented cars parked by the road while the drivers engaged in blame game to determine the person at fault driver.

On other occasions, Kasumu said there were pieces of broken headlight, rear lights or vehicle parts on the ground whenever he drove pass the junction apparently caused by the faulty traffic lights.

He said before the traffic light was fixed recently, traffic wardens were posted to the control the traffic but not always.

“I take note of the area because the officer that won a flat by the government for controlling traffic was always posted there. He used to be at Utako Market junction. But he was not regularly posted there.

“Apart from Chida Hotel Junction, the traffic light at the Gwarimpa overhead bridge from Life Camp Roundabout is another dangerous spot,” he said.

He said there are about six intersections on the road but most motorists were not cautious if the traffic lights were non-functional.

“The person coming Kado Estate will be claiming right to the road while the person that wanted to link Gwarimpa from the Life Camp Roundabout road will also be claiming. Nobody would want to exercise patience and before you know it, an accident had occurred,” he said, adding that several exotic cars had been damaged due to faulty traffic lights in that axis.

A resident, Joba Seyi who was worried over the chaotic traffic situation at Chida Hotel Junction due to faulty light, recently wrote a letter to the FCT Minister drawing his attention to the faulty light.

The letter which was published in Daily Trust reads: “The junction is very risky and anything terrible can happen because of the unregulated movement of motorists. Kindly address the issue so that we can drive without fear. Do we have to lose lives before our requests are heeded?”

Another motorist, Hussein Alhaji said most of the traffic lights were faulty after the coronavirus lockdown was eased, adding that that he was involved in an accident at Garki due to faulty light.

He said the accident was mild because he was able to see the other vehicle coming from Garki Ultramodern Market on time, adding that it could have been avoided if the traffic light was functional at the time.

“The other driver was driving faster; I noticed but I thought he would wait because I wanted to believe I had the right of way. None of us stopped but the good thing was that I was driving as fast as he was so the damage was not much.

“There were always police officers at the Garki Model Market Junction before the traffic light was fixed and when the light was faulty. You will always see a policeman there, so the government should ensure there are police officers to control the traffic if the traffic light is faulty

“As you can see, I am still driving my car with the damage because I never see money chop finish talk say to be spending on motor,” he said in Pidgin English.

On his part, Chinedu James said the FCT Administration needed to do more in the area of traffic regulations and maintenance in the territory.

“The government is trying in Abuja. The number of traffic lights here are amazing compared to some cities in Nigeria. We cannot take away from the government; I just want to urge them to do more in the area of maintenance. If the motorists are used to traffic light and it is not there, it could lead to road chaos especially this time that almost everybody is angry,” he said.

James said though he owned no car but has witnessed several accidents on his way to his office in Maitama.

“Such accidents could have been avoided if the traffic lights were functional and if the motorists had been cautious and patient; but you know, everybody would be proving right in Nigeria,” he said.