2016 started off on a sour note with the frequency and intensity of road crashes involving articulated vehicles on Nigerian roads especially here in Lagos, and even on the Lagos-Benin Expressway. It is extremely sad that most of these incidents are avoidable if the laid down rules of road usage are followed.
One can see that the flat bed of this trailer in the pictures is very uneven and one of the latch-locks meant to secure containers seem not to function. How then will a flat-bottomed container whether loaded with goods or empty after offloading be able to securely stay on the flatbed without sliding away from the flatbed to either cause 'accidents', deaths, or other forms of incidents on our roads?

From middle to late last year, there was a lot of cries especially after the one at Ojuelegba Bridge that government should look into the operations of these heavy-duty vehicles especially the ones used in carrying containers and petroleum products. It needs to be stated here that most of these trucks have no business still being in operations as they were produced like nearly four decades ago. So a great deal of them have passed their productive years and most were discarded by the foreign companies that bought them brand new. Yet due to either economic or selfish reasons, a lot of unscrupulous businessmen and women would import and operate these trucks on our roads.

They mostly get away with this act because the extant laws of the land especially as regarding land transportation are not well respected by the operators and drivers of these trucks. But they are quick to forget that the impacts of such incidents know no bounds in the sense that no one knows who the next victim of a road crash can be. Even the person who causes a crash is not immune from injuries or deaths arising from his/her indiscretion. Check these trucks below out, credits to #StreetsByKel
From observations, it can be said that it is not as if these trucking businesses can not get standard trailer heads or flatbeds, rather they do not deem it fit to invest very well in the upgrading of the trucks in the fleet, though some companies are making concerted efforts to change this situation.
The government, through the relevant agencies like FRSC, VIO, LASTMA etc, have been working to enlighten these set of people on the need to maintain safety on our roads but a lot more still needs to be done. For instance, they may need to start regulating the indigenous builders and operators of these trailers so that only standard and well-built and regulated heavy-duty vehicles are used on our roads. This is because the trailers seen in these pictures neither meet national nor international trucking standards cum rules and regulations.
The individual drivers of these heavy-duty vehicles really need to be trained and retrained on the best ways of driving safely on our roads to prevent loss of or injuries to human beings because a safe and healthy nation will in turn breed a healthy and productive economy. Their alcohol and drugs consumption really needs to be checked. In addition to their working hours well spelled out and enforced.
It will also be awesome if our roads will be fixed and lit up so that these trucks won't have any reason of getting stuck or falling over as they have been notorious at doing. These drivers also need to be taught to stop seeing every other driver/rider/pedestrian as threats that should be crushed with their massive trucks. There should be cordial road usage on our roads if we need to curb road crashes on our roads.
www.carsinyankee.com look forward to the day when our roads will become safer, more organized and more productivity friendly (without those inexplicable traffic jams). It's good to dream so we keep these dreams alive because dreams do come true.
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http://carsinyankee.com/blog/6-Heavy-Duty-Vehicles.html