I once told you that I am not a Pastor. Neither a man on a pulpit. But I am a believer. As a believer, there are two scriptures from the Holy book that I love. The first is Nahum 1:9 which says, ‘’What do you imagine against the Lord? He will make an utter end; affliction will not arise the second time.”
This scripture is apt when we consider the unfortunate road crash tragedy that befell our beloved brother, friend, and former world boxing champion, Joshua Anthony just at the tail end of 2025. In that crash which I spent two weeks treating, he lost two of his trusted buddies.
Besides the loss of his beloved friends, partners, and brothers, he also suffered physical injuries as well as significant emotional and psychological trauma. That crash, I guess, might have caused him to quit boxing. It is also apt for other families who lost loved ones, not only through avoidable road traffic crashes but also through other security and safety challenges. God promises that there won’t be such tragedies again
The second is a masterpiece for everyone who believes in a divine being whom we call God Almighty or EL-ROI, the God who sees us. It is found in Deuteronomy 30:19. It says, ‘’I call heaven and earth today to witness against you. I have set before you; life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live’’. By extension, drive safely and live.
I don’t know what or how the Holy Koran captures these same words. I wish my Muslim cleric were close by to guide me. But while I regret not having the Islamic translation of these two scripture passages, I know some do not believe in this spiritual stuff.
Some in our local parlance just believe that ‘’any die na die-whether through banditry, kidnappers, terrorist attacks, or road traffic crashes. I agree that death is the ultimate, but God, the creator of all, guides us through His holy books, especially in Ecclesiastes 7:16, where He says, ’’Do not be overly righteous, Nor be overly wise; Why should you destroy yourself.
This week, I am guided by these scriptures, especially the second scripture, to again remind us that a road crash is not an accident, which we are told are unfortunate incidents that happen unexpectedly and unintentionally, typically resulting in damage or injury. A road crash, on the other hand, is an avoidable incident that is preventable. I will deal with this as I go on.
But before then, please allow me to drive you through the event of 2007 which was discussed in detail in my piece captioned, A road Crash in no accident. In that piece, I told you of a new charge which was introduced when talking about ‘causing death by careless driving, which is a crash and not an accident.
According to the new lexicon, ‘Accident is a word, the use of which in the road traffic context severely undermines the work of those who are trying to improve safety conditions on the road. It questioned and wondered how road users can be seriously expected to respond positively to road safety directives whenever road death resulting from the neglect of such directives is thoughtlessly explained away, even by those issuing them, as being an ‘accident’?
It further noted that the perpetrators of a road tragedy are often fuddled with drink or drugs; therefore, the word ‘accident’ which is used with distressing persistence in the media and in the courts, reinforces road users’ complacency.
Therefore, the word ‘accident’ should be replaced by words such as crash, incident, fatality, or road death in official statements and documents according to Support for Families of Road Death victims,1994. This was the first recommendation convened by Victims Support, the government-funded charity for victims of crime in the United Kingdom, whose mandate did not include road victims.
This working group included representatives from the Home Office, Crown Prosecution Service, Police, Coroners’ Society, the British Association of A&E Medicine, as well as RoadPeace and other charities.
Arising from this report, road crashes are sudden violent events that devastate families for decades, if not permanently. Therefore, the word ‘accident’ should not be used to describe the leading cause of death and disability. This is because terminology is important, not only out of respect for the feelings of those affected, but as set out previously-to ensure that proper priority is given to reducing the risk of crashes and ensuring a fitting response to loss of life and quality of life.
It would be wrong to describe Anthony’s crash as an accident, which claimed the lives of two friends; it was caused by a speeding and reckless driver, or, as is the case in other incidents, by an uninsured driver who had driven through red lights. Therefore, the first step in changing human behaviors must be to stop thinking in terms of accidents and to talk exclusively of crashes.
Based on this, I wish to draw our attention again to the December 29, 2025 incident in Makun, around 30 miles from Lagos. The suspected causative factors, according to the Federal Road Safety Corps, were speeding, wrong overtaking, and dangerous overtaking. However, according to prosecutors, the four charges brought against the driver of the SUV were dangerous driving, reckless and negligent driving, driving without due care, and driving without a valid driver’s license.
I know we all speed irrespective of the road conditions, increased motorization, the state of our vehicle, or even our emotional, mental, and physical state. We speed, irrespective of our ages, sex, or even how ‘bad’ our sight or vision. We speed on highways where limits are set.
We do the same even on built- up roads where limits are further reduced because of the increased risk. Still, we speed in convoys and at blind spots
In retrospect, have you ever imagined that Anthony’s two buddies could have survived if the driver’s driving had been the reverse? If he was not speeding, driving dangerously, or wrongfully overtaking? Have you pondered that?
Daily, we deal with rule breakers and Anthony’s driver was one. Rule breakers speed, not wearing a seat belt, overtake wrongfully and dangerously, disregarding traffic signs and signals. Rules breakers do not take proper precautions, nor do they obey the rules of the road to ensure safety and to avoid costly tickets. Vehicle occupants, on their own, must avoid being passive but choose to be active.
Rule breakers are speed freaks. The Traffic regulations specify different speeds for different vehicles. This is because speed is one of the critical factors identified by the World Health Organization and World Bank as responsible for increased fatalities. What this simply means is that your chances of survival while driving, should you be involved in a crash, are dependent on your speed.
So, if you are a speed freak, don’t forget that as you speed, anything can happen, such as a tyre burst, brake failure, or even a pedestrian crossing the road. Whenever you speed, remember that at 100km/h, a vehicle moves at 28 meters per second on a road. Speed increases your risk in case there is a crash. The speed limit for private cars on an expressway is 100km/ph. Taxis and buses are allowed to maintain a speed limit of 90km/ph on an expressway, while articulated vehicles like tankers and trailers are to maintain speed limits of 60km/ph on the expressway and 50km/ph on the highway. Within built-up areas, taxis and buses are to maintain speed limits of 30km/ph. However, you must note that common sense often dictates lower speed limits.
