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Parents
and drivers who flout child safety while driving will soon be arrested
by officers of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

The sector
commander of the Lagos State Command of the Corps, Jonas Agwu during a
visit to NEXT on Wednesday said that though the command has launched
several awareness programmes to teach many Lagos motorists on the
proper safety procedures that apply when there is a child in a vehicle,
it has observed that a large percentage of parents and motorists still
carry children in the front seat, on their laps while driving and
without recommended car carriers.

Mr. Jonas announced that from Monday, August 23, such drivers and parents will be arrested.

“By next week
Monday we will arrest any motorist in Lagos that we see carrying a
child under the age of 12 in the front seat, on the lap.” He said.

He stated that the
reason the Command has decided to move to enforcement was because of
the large number of drivers who flout Child safety rules.

“With the Child
Passenger Safety campaign, the law provides that every occupant of the
vehicle should be strapped with a seat belt and we discovered that the
safety priorities of Lagos residents are not there. What we see on the
road is terrible. A pathetic case was on Sunday, a man who was just
leaving church and had his little daughter between his legs and he was
driving as if that kid were a co-pilot driving the vehicle.” He said,

“That is worse that
when the mother in the passenger seat laps the child. And we noticed
that this has become a vogue in Lagos, motorist don’t care for the
safety of the baby. The issue of car seats and booster seats seem
foreign to most Lagos drivers.” He added that despite several awareness
campaigns the occurrence was still high.

“We have done a lot
of talking and talking, done road shows, we’ve been to churches and
mosques but now it is obvious that awareness does not really stick to
Lagosians until when you take action. Call it ‘Operation Buckle Up’
directed towards the safety of the child passenger. Any motorist we see
private, commercial, government carrying a baby under twelve, or the
father turns the baby into an air bag. We will impound that vehicle. We
will not allow these kids to be exposed to danger by their parents. And
after the arrest we will impound the vehicles too. When we remain tight
with that enforcement, as school resume, most parents will complain but
we will impound such vehicles. That’s the new stand we want to take
concerning the safety of child passengers in Lagos. Most parents get
very rude telling you “Is it your baby?” By Monday we are not talking
awareness, we are biting.” He said.

Last Sunday tragedy

The sector
commander said it was regrettable, the accident that took place last
week Sunday which claimed 16 lives at Berger. Rather than trading
blame, traffic, safety and road management agencies should work in
synergy to forestall such tragedy again in Lagos.

“Our heart bleeds
at what happened on Sunday because our job is to prevent such accidents
but it’s a not a one man thing, it is difficult if you are saying
something and the public is not listening. When it happened on Sunday
our men could not could not do their jobs because motorists were too
aggrieved. My men got their in good time but the reaction of other
aggrieved motorists affected the response time. Once there is a crash
our first concern is not who caused it, but that can we save one life,
can we clear this hazard so that no other one happens.” Said Mr. Agwu.

The Deputy Corps Commander Sector and head of operation, H.U. Omeje
urged motorists in the State to take the issue of road safety serious,
obey traffic codes and avoid over speeding.