Fears grip motorists as LASTMA deepens enforcement

…no cause for alarm, we are not enforcing new laws

Fear and apprehension have gripped motorists in Lagos following increased enforcement drive by the state Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) as directed by the Governor of the state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, hours after taking over the mantle of leadership as the governor of the state, signed an Executive Order on traffic management.

The intent was to restore sanity on roads and highways in the metropolis and mitigate the effect of the congestion across the state.

According to the order, “All LASTMA officials shall effectively carry out their functions by ensuring strict enforcement and compliance with all extant traffic rules and regulations, while LASTMA officials will immediately begin work on a shift basis, in which road and traffic management operations will be on till 11 pm on a daily basis”.

Sanwo-Olu has not left anyone in doubt about his seriousness of restoring sanity on Lagos roads. Last week, he met with the management and senior officials of LASTMA where he reeled out many incentives for the officials charged with the responsibility of managing traffic in the state. Key among the incentives was the approval of 100 per cent increase in their allowance. And like the popular saying that to whom much is given, much is expected, the governor charged LASTMA officials to redouble their efforts in traffic management with particular emphasis on curbing the excesses of some motorists who willfully flout traffic rules in the state.

Lagos state which is a commercial nerve center of the country with a population of over 20 million people, according to unofficial account, poses a huge problem managing traffic on a daily basis. With the Danfo drivers on one hand, the taxi drivers on another, as well as over five million private vehicles plying the Lagos road, traffic management in the state is incontrovertibly a big business.

Transport experts are of the view that if all drivers, both commercial and private motorists play by the rule, the chaos on Lagos roads would be minimal and LASTMA officials would have little work to carry out. However, this is not the case in the state.

The LASTMA has, however, increased its tempo of enforcement with a view of bringing to book, erring motorists. The development has triggered jitters among motorists with some insinuating that the LASTMA officials are out on making lives difficult for Lagos residents. The social media space is already abuzz with all sorts of sarcastic posts about LASTMA embarking on aggressive revenue drive for the state through a revised traffic rules.

However, the authority has dismissed the claims, saying there is no new law in place and that motorists have no cause to fear as long as they cooperate with the LASTMA officials and comply with traffic rules and regulations.

As part of the increased in enforcement drive, the authority has publicized the traffic offences and penalties under the state Road Traffic Law 2012.

Some of the offences include violation of routes by commercial drivers which attracts N20,000 fine for first offender and impounding of vehicles, in addition to counseling and enlightenment; smoking/drinking while driving; riding a motorcycle against traffic; riding a motorcycle without rider’s permit; driving a motorcycle without side mirror; wrongful overtaking of other vehicle; failure of slow moving vehicle to keep to the right lane and illegal U-turn.

Others are parking or stopping to pick passengers on the highway; abandoned vehicle on highway; bullion van driving in a direction prohibited by law; assault on traffic offender, among others. These offences attract between N20,000 to N200,000 as well as imprisonment.

General Manager of LASTMA, Mr. Olawale Musa, in a chat with Eko Trust yesterday, advised motorists not to entertain any fear about the enforcement drive. He also warned motorists against paying cash to LASTMA officials or bribing them when arrested for any traffic offence. He confirmed that some unscrupulous officials might want to take advantage of the present atmosphere to extort motorists and urged them not to fall prey.

“There is no cause for fear if you obey the law. We are encouraging motorists not to pay cash to any official. If you feel that you have been wrongly booked, the mobile court is there for settlement. It is only the court that can issue you a fine. It is only when you say, ‘I am not going to court, go and issue me a ticket’, that is when we would issue you a fine ticket. There is nothing punitive in what we are doing. We are only increasing the tempo of our enforcement”, he said.

“We know with the tempo of enforcement, there would be more conflict with our men on the road. There is possibility of our men using it to extort and that is why we are telling everybody that if you commit any offence, do not pay money to anybody. We have stated all the fines and the penalties. If you know you are on your right, stand by your right and go to the court. People should not be afraid.”

It was, however, learnt that some commercial motorists have taken up the challenge of sensitizing their members so as not to fall victims of any of the traffic offences.

Chairman of the Road Transport Employers’ Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Alhaji Musa Muhammed, yesterday, urged commercial transporters to comply with traffic laws and regulations in their daily activities, stressing that no commercial motorist would be arrested if the drivers stay on the side of the laws.

“This is our appeal to our members and we hope they would not flout the traffic laws and regulations”, he said in an interview yesterday.

A commercial motorist who identifies himself simply as Mr. Lukman said he is not afraid of the LASTMA enforcement because he has always obeyed the law. According to him, the enforcement is only targeted at those flouting traffic laws and he is not “one of them”.