Guiding Rules For Learners

For the past weeks, I have come under intense pressure from my colleagues in the media and also from some disturbed motorists over what they describe as increasing insanity on Nigerian roads caused by learner-drivers.

Today, I am focusing on these groups of road users with the above title that might offend some of my readers. But before I fall under the sledge hammer of any of these readers, let me first sincerely apologize and state that I mean no harm. Secondly, let me state here that I chose the above title to drive home the seriousness of this development and the need to put a stop to it.

Thirdly, I wish to also state that while I was pondering over the appropriate title for this piece, my mind quickly flashed to oga driver, an interactive awareness programme conceptualized by me and my colleague, Salihu Ibrahim Kindo of Aso Radio when I was the Sector Commander in the Federal Territory. It was in the course of that programme that we coined the above title as a way of raising awareness on the seriousness and risk involved in this driving behavior, in addition to the need to draw a line between the good and the bad guys among learner drivers.

Oga Driver, which was rested for reasons that cannot be discussed here, is finally back courtesy of Dauda Biu, the helmsman at the Federal Road Safety Corps who unknowingly was one of my favorite fans some twenty-two years ago when we birthed the programme. There is however a change as the programme now runs on the National Traffic Radio, owned by the Corps. For four weeks running we have in the words of our listeners brought back the uniqueness of the programme which discusses road safety couched in humour.

If you want to know what I mean by the good and the bad, let me first state here that from our observations, the good guys represent the learner drivers who are not ashamed to be tagged, “leaners” and as such boldly display the “L” sign as mandated by law. The bad guys on the other hand represent learners that out of unnecessary ego and pride, refuse to display the “L” sign and even when they do, they willingly flout all the rules guiding a learner.

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Specifically, the National Road Traffic Regulations, 2012, mandates all learner drivers to observe the following rules: Attend a certified and approved driving school as a prerequisite to obtaining a fresh driver’s licence. In the course of this coaching, the learner driver must display an L-plate-which is a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learners, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in many Countries if its driver is a learner under instruction, or a motorcycle rider with provisional entitlement to ride restricted motorcycles.

What this means is that this rule is a universal convention with slight variations from Country to Country. In the case of Nigeria, section 27, sub sections 1-3 of the National Road Traffic Regulations earlier cited spells out the details as applicable to learner drivers.

For the purpose of this piece, let me stress here that besides displaying an “L” sign, a learner driver when issued a learner’s permit, must be accompanied by a licensed driver-instructor sitting beside him to drive a vehicle or type stated in the permit from a period not exceeding three months from the date of issue within the highways specified in the permit.

Besides these, the permit in itself forbids the learner from carrying any person no matter the level of affiliation except the instructor. In addition, the learner-driver must at all times comply with relevant traffic rules and regulations.

Unfortunately, these provisions are daily abused by learner drivers who no doubt display the “L” sign yet disregard the other provisions meant for their safety and the safety of others. The high-flying learners on their own don’t even display the “L” sign and arrogantly violate all other provisions. It is even strange that other motorists expose themselves to necessary risks by offering to drive in such vehicles. It is also strange that women by our findings in the course of patrols rank among the greatest offenders when it comes to infractions that have to do with learner drivers.

It is very common to see women who are learner-drivers on Sundays and during school run hours flout all safety precautions by carrying children in such vehicles and even doing the same on their way to worship centers. I must emphasis at this point that the rationale behind the Federal Road Safety Corps driving school standardization programme which makes it mandatory for fresh applicant to attend a certified and approved driving school, is to nurture a fresh generation of drivers who will drive by the rules and help the national projection of a zero level for road traffic crashes.

We therefore need to reappraise on going enforcement of these rules as we strive to meet the projected reduction of road traffic crashes by 5 percent and fatalities in 2024.One of the effective strategies to checkmate this trend is to engage the proprietors of driving schools whose role in birthing the foundation for responsible drivers is crucial. Secondly, there is the need to strengthen enforcement as well as enhance public education. This is in addition to improving advocacies on the dangers of flouting these provisions.