Safer Driving Culture : Ogun TRACE make plea for Recognition,Motivation Of Good Drivers

The Corps Commander and Chief Executive Officer, Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE), Abdulfatai Olaseni Ogunyemi recently at a training segment to awaken the neccesitiy of safer and responsible driving especially in logistics companies to imbibe the spirit of honouring its drivers who throughout the year meeting product delivery target and driving accident-free.

The Gateway state agency, saddled with responsibility of making road more safer for the users in Ogun State made it known through Area 4 Commander, Adekunle Ariyo Ajibade, in a road safety workshop organised by Metro Live Animal Transit Nigeria Limited in Agege Abattoir, Lagos State.

He said rewarding drivers periodically would boost their ego and enable them work with transparency and mindful of driving cautiously while on steering. 

Aside cautious and responsible driving,every logistics manager should acknowledge the fact that you cut maintainance expenditures on every vehicles whose driver is motivated and thereby further displaying sense of belonging towards vehicular assets ,he noted.

“No serious organisation would take its drivers for granted. Our drivers are the most important in the distribution chain. Business transactions of the organisation with its customers was incomplete until the final delivery of products to the right destination was made possible by the drivers."

He emphasised that motivating the drivers might be through promotions, monetary or gifts to reciprocate their good driving culture.

Commander Ajibade while commending the drivers of Metro Live Animal Transit Nigeria Limited, said he has not receiving report of traffic disobedience from any of the drivers and urged them to keep it up.

“I can say without fear or contradiction, this company's drivers have been exhibiting a culture of discipline and good driving culture unlike some other organistion's drivers, they have not been giving us trouble on the road. It shown that they have a good management that treasures constant training and retraining of its drivers. This is commendable."

“However, permit me to suggest that such drivers’ good behaviour should be encouraged by either promotion, gifts or monetary motivation periodically. Infact, If a driver could drive with accident-free for six months or throughout the year, and he is given, like a sum of N100,000 as a reward, he would perform better for that company”, he advised.

Commander Ajibade condemned some of vehicle owners who care less about the welfare of their drivers. He noted that such driver would not be expected to work effectively and diligently. “Drivers are expected to be well treated before expecting them to perform well. Their operations cannot be rule off in any organistion. A situation where a vehicle owner buys and eats everything edible on the road and care less about his driver's welfare is risky his life.

The TRACE Area 4 Commander appealed to drivers to always 'drive defensively', saying they should be aware of what other drivers around them are doing and expect the unexpected.

He said drivers must at all time be alert while on the wheel, they should always assume other motorists could do something crazy, and prepared to avoid it, saying any driver that arrive at his destination safely is a good driver.

He preached against all forms of traffic indiscipline that caused accidents on the road, amongst were; driving against traffic, popularly known as "one way" over speeding, wrongful overtaking, overloading, driving under influence of drugs or alcohol and distractions while on the wheels.

“Some drivers, especially commercial ones, fail to recognize that they are occupying a very important position of trust which bestows on them the duty of holding every passenger’s life in their vehicles.

“This sense of duty ought to propel them to avoid anything that would endanger their lives and those of their passengers," Ajibade added.  

While reminding drivers of the Ogun State government’s recent pronouncement banning vehicles with six tyres and above from plying bridges, Ajibade also cautioned truck drivers against plying restricted roads like newly constructed Navy-Akeja-Ikola road, that links Lagos State to Ogun State through Ota. 

Responding, the Managing Director, Alhaji Tajudeen Niyi Bello, while thanking TRACE management, urged drivers to stop claiming right of the road, where they are supposed to consider the fact that not every road user is sane.

He advised drivers to always ensure they don’t overwork themselves to the detriment of their health, saying no one can cheat nature.