It has been established that lower speed variance can be linked to fewer crashes and compliance with speed limits reduces the chances of vehicles getting involved in frequency of crashes and severity of bodily injuries.
Therefore, as the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has set April 1 2016, as deadline for commercial vehicles to install speed limiting device in their vehicles, it is imperative to critically look at the advantages of the device to the motorists in particular and the nation as a whole.
Speed limiting device or speed limiter is a device used to limit the top speed of a vehicle by not allowing the vehicle to accelerate beyond the pre-set speed limit.
Enforcing the use of speed limiter has become imperative considering the fact that speed itself has been identified as a key risk factor in road traffic injuries, influencing both the risk of a road crash as well as the severity of the injuries that result from crashes.
Excessive speed among other things, Increases driver’s response time to objects and increases risk of collision; reduces the driver’s ability to steer safely and around curves and objects on the roads; extends the distance necessary to stop a vehicle, as well as increases the distance a vehicle travels while the driver reacts to a dangerous situation.
It has been noted that implementation of speed limits has immense social-economic advantages as follows:
Lower speed results in less fuel consumption by vehicles.
Lower speed also cuts down vehicle maintenance cost and slows down depreciation value thus vehicle last longer.
It will significantly impact positively in changing the individual driving behaviour which has been hard to achieve over the years.
It will reduce the speed of vehicle to pre-set limit thus reducing overall crash risk and likely to lessen severity of crash.
It will equally engender good monitoring mechanism for vehicle owners’/fleet operators.
Also, it will engender compliance with the ECOWAS mandate, fulfillment of the Corps statutory functions through good practice.
It will assist to eliminate losses associated with speed related crashes. These losses are usually in vehicles loss, damage to roads and road infrastructure, house, goods etc.
It will assist to preserve the young virile members of the society from deaths and maiming associated with speed induced crashes.
It enables more relaxed driving and lower insurance premium as consequence of fewer crashes.
It should be noted also that the regulation on compulsory use of speed limiting device on vehicles in Nigeria has been in the FRSC Establishment Act and the National Road Traffic Regulation since 2004 and retained in the subsequent amendments as shown below:
“All motor vehicles plying the highway shall be in possession of good electric or air horn, jack, wheel spanner, tools, fire extinguisher, inflated spare tyre, first aid box, emergency warning triangles or cones, laminated windscreen and mirror, speed governor, wipers, insurance certificate and road worthiness certificate.”
”A person driving or in control of a motor vehicle on any highway shall –
Not drive at a speed exceeding 50km/hr in any town, village, residential or industrial area, as illustrated in Schedule 8 or may be shown on speed sign along the road”.
”The minimum speed of any motor vehicle shall be 45km/hr and maximum speed 100km/hr, except where otherwise indicted by a sign as prescribed in Section 9 of these Regulations”.
”Determining and enforcing speed limits for all categories of roads and vehicles and controlling the use of speed limiting devices”.
Also, Part XIII, Section 153, Sub-Section (4) of the National Road Traffic Regulation (NRTR 2012), which deals with SPEED LIMITS states:
“A person shall not drive a vehicle on any public road which is not fitted with a speed limiter”.
Nigeria has recorded high rates of road crashes in the recent past hence, the need to support the FRSC as it enforces the implementation of Speed Limiter comes April 1, 2016.
