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THE sleepy town of Iworoko Ekiti in Irepodun/Ifelodun local government of Ekiti State no doubt is mourning . This is occasioned by the death of fifteen persons in an accident that occurred penultimate Saturday night at a market in the town.

A truck, conveying bags of rice  allegedly caused the accident. It was said to have crushed two other vehicles before ramming into shops.

THE  accident has also remotely claimed the life of Alaworoko of Iworoko Ekiti, Oba Michael Olufemi Aladejana. Report had it that the Alaworoko who had been battling with his health was rushed to hospital when the death of victims got to him and later gave up the ghost.

GOVERNOR Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti state has condoled with residents and families of the victims. Fayemi in a statement said that he was saddened and devastated by the news of the fatal accident.

HE noted that many lives had  been lost to the recklessness of many trailer drivers, and that government might be compelled to re-introduce some old laws and previous arrangements to deal with the menace. He has also promised to relocate the market from its present location.

MR Donald Alasoadura, Senator representing Ondo Central at the National Assembly who openly admitted ownership  of the customised rice   has consoled with victims and people of the town.

DEATH of innocent Nigerians from the carelessness of articulated drivers have almost become recurring happenings in the country as hardly could a month past without an accident of such nature occurring.

FOR example, an articulated vehicle on penultimate Monday killed 10 roadside vendors in Jega Local Government area of Kebbi State.

ALSO, another articulated vehicle conveying diesel last week Tuesday crashed near the Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki (FETHA), on the Enugu-Abakaliki highway.

IT was reported that the vehicle later caught fire from the spilled product.

A pregnant woman suspected to be in her late 20s was last month crushed to death by an articulated vehicle  while trying to cross the road at Molete area of Ibadan.

NO fewer than 12 persons died and over 50 vehicles burnt on June 28 2018 in tanker accident at Otedola Bridge in Lagos. According to reports, a 33,000-litre articulated vehicle heading towards Ibadan had a break failure, skidded off the road and in the process had all its content spilled all over the road and resulted into a great inferno.

INCREASING  indecencies of road accidents across the country involving articulated vehicles has become a menace.

A  RECENT survey conducted by the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, revealed that about 30% of drivers of such vehicles have vision problems and therefore cannot see properly at night. This to us is worrisome and suggestive of the fact that a lot more needs to be done to stem the ugly tide.

Investigation has identified some of the fundamental causes of accidents involving tankers, trailers and other articulated vehicles. For example, the FRSC survey revealed that, apart from bad visual ability on the part of the drivers at night, these crashes have been largely due to non-adherence to road traffic safety practices; inadequate driver’s training, certification and retraining leading to drivers’ errors; inadequate provision of tankers’ and trailers’ parks across the country; non adherence to safe haulage practices and standards; non-functional weighbridges to assist in enforcement of axle-load compliance, including overload with sundry goods; aging trucks and lack of fleet renewal programmes, as such the issue of road worthiness of vehicles remains a huge  National problem.

MOREOVER, the poor state of the nation’s roads also remains a colossal problem and has been contributing in no small measure in the high level of fatalities on the roads. What is more, some of those who drive these articulated vehicles, most time, drive under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

IT is, however, instructive to point out that the observations made by FRSC in this survey is, indeed, an indictment on the commission considering that it is its statutory responsibility to issue drivers licenses and only to qualified drivers for that matter, as well as enforce other road safety rules.

 IF  drivers had been properly screened and tested to ensure their suitability to drive, the question of visual impediment would have been addressed in the process ab initio. It is perhaps pertinent for FRSC to restructure its system of operation to make it more credible so as to ensure that people who have problems with their sight do not drive, especially heavy duty vehicles, considering the inherent danger in such misdemeanor. And if they must drive at all, let alone at night, they must be encouraged to acquire appropriate  eye glasses for such venture.

WE  share with the people of Iworoko and families of the victims the pain and sorrow of the unfortunate development. We therefore enjoin Ekiti state government to expedite action in its resolve to relocate the market and adjoining shops  from its present position at Iworoko.

WE  are not unmindful of the nearness of the town to Ekiti state University. Students no doubt live in the town. Thus occurrence of any accident in the town may provoke an unrest which may not  do the state and university community any  good.

WE  also recommend the reconstruction of the road that passes through the town. Our position is that the sharp bend in the heart of Iworoko  is a contributory factor to incessant accidents that occur in the town. It thus needs to be straightened.

THE HOPE  sympathizes with people of Iworoko and prays for the repose of those that lost their lives.

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