Nigerian Motorists, Pedestrians And Zebra Crossing

By Laolu Harolds

Mr. Osita Nwaja, Corps-Marshal, FRSC

Can you imagine a pedestrian knocked down right on the Zebra Crossing? It is not supposed to happen, but here, it is not a remote possibility, going by the attitude of motorists towards those white markings on the roads of Nigeria's major cities, especially Lagos.

Midweek, Saturday Tribune went out to observe the attitude of motorists in Lagos towards pedestrians attempting to use the designated spots to cross the major roads.

Judging by the speed at which they bore down on pedestrians, it was obvious many of them, especially those driving the yellow (commercial) buses and the ubiquitous commercial motorcyclists (okada operators) believed the black and white marks were just another way of beautifying the roads.

On one occasion on Wempco Road, Ogba, on Tuesday, a middle-aged man had attempted to cross from one side to the other using the Zebra Crossing on that stretch of the road. He had patiently walked about 25 to 30 metres down the pavement to get to the nearest Zebra Crossing.

He surveyed the road both ways, and having seen what he thought was a safe opportunity for him to cross, he promptly stepped on the white markings and made to cross over. But it turned out that he had misjudged the speed of a yellow van (popularly called 'Paragon' in the Lagos commercial transport parlance) approaching menacingly from the side he was trying to cross over to. He was already at the centre of the road when he changed his mind and did a 120-degree turn.

There is no central pavement on that road. By the time he turned round, there was already a tricycle behind him (the popular Keke Marwa), also driving recklessly. For a brief period, he was transfixed, not knowing where to turn. He quickly took his chances with the tricycle, which had to swerve swiftly to avoid hitting him. The driver released a string of curses on him. The whole episode took just a few seconds, and it happened on a Zebra Crossing!

This calls to question the safety and right of pedestrians at Pedestrian Crossing (also variously known as Zebra Crossing or Pelican Crossing) in our cities.

The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary is authoritative on who should have the priority at a Pedestrian Crossing. It defines it as A part of a road where vehicles must stop to allow people to cross. It is even more precise on 'Zebra Crossing', which it defines as 'an area of road marked with black and white lines where vehicles must stop for people to walk across'.

But do Nigerian motorists stop for pedestrians to walk across? Even at a trot, it was observed that an average Nigerian pedestrian would be risking bodily harm or something worse if he goes over a Zebra Crossing thinking he has the right of way.

Saturday Tribune investigation revealed that only very few motorists willingly stopped for pedestrians to walk across the roads on the various spots visited on Tuesday in Lagos; and the few were usually either private car owners or drivers of government's delivery vans or company vehicles.

The worst culprits were the yellow commercial buses, which honked their horns impatiently at car owners in front of them who dared to stop for pedestrians.

These yellow buses only stopped when such Pedestrian Crossings also happened to be near or beside their bus stops, as is the case in front of the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja.

Here, at intervals, commercial buses were parked (with impunity) directly on the Pedestrian Crossing, sometimes even in the middle of the road, while their conductors announced their routes, and pedestrians had to walk round such buses, peep at oncoming vehicles before sprinting across to the other side.

On some occasions, and at some Zebra Crossings, our reporter observed that up to about 10 or more pedestrians would have gathered together on one side of the road and would have waited for between three to five minutes before they could see a break in the traffic safe enough for them to cross over.

In all the places visited by Saturday Tribune - Wempco Road, Ogba; Lateef Jakande Road, or Awolowo Way in Ikeja, etc, the situation was the same: Pedestrians had no rights!

This, according to Saturday Tribune findings, stands in sharp contradistinction with what obtains in Europe – especially the United Kingdom and Germany, where pedestrians are treated as kings.

In UK, whether at a Zebra Crossing or not, the pedestrian is given priority on the road. Even where he crosses the road at an unauthorised point, he still has priority, because the law deems him vulnerable. He may have infringed on traffic rules, but he will be protected first from being knocked down, and then may face prosecution afterwards if he is caught.

At a Zebra Crossing, the driver is under a legal duty to stop as soon as he spots a pedestrian standing at a pedestrian crossing. It does not end there; the driver will have to wait for the pedestrian to cross. And even if the pedestrian is not sure of what to do, the driver still has to wait.

Under no circumstance must the driver wave the pedestrian to cross. He just has to be patient until the pedestrian pleases himself. The best a driver can do is to make eye contact with the pedestrian to indicate that he (pedestrian) has priority.

Saturday Tribune further gathered that in the UK and some European countries, nobody enforces compliance, but the law is strict about obedience and Close Circuit Television (CCTV) comes in handy as evidence where a driver's reckless driving becomes an issue.

Most roads are covered by CCTV and just anybody could ring the regulatory agencies or the police to report a driver who violates the Zebra Crossing rule. And because it is certain that the police will act and will not wait until such a driver kills somebody before doing the right thing, motorists are usually very careful and try as much as possible to obey the rule.

In the UK and most European countries, particularly Germany, people obey the rule so readily, without being coerced, that pedestrians often take it for granted that they have adequate protection on the roads. The pedestrian can choose to step on the Zebra Crossing even while a vehicle is approaching. He knows that the possibility that a driver will run into him is less than one per cent.

But on Nigerian roads, who has the right of way at the Pedestrian Crossing: the motorist or the pedestrian? What is the recommended speed at which vehicles must approach Pedestrian Crossing? Are there people (or agencies) saddled with the responsibility of enforcing compliance of motorists in this regard? And what is the penalty for violating the rules?

Saturday Tribune sought answers to these posers from the Oyo State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Mr. George Chukwu.

He said: "Once a pedestrian steps on Zebra Crossing, motorists must stop; which of course means that the pedestrian naturally has the right of way," he said.

But he was quick to note that there are some drills that the pedestrians themselves are supposed to be taken through on how to use the Pedestrian Crossing. The pedestrian is expected, for example, according to him to look left, right and then left again before walking across.

Saturday Tribune wanted to know if there is a particular speed limit motorists must observe while approaching a Pedestrian Crossing. He noted that since Pedestrian Crossings were usually put in built-up areas, motorists were not expected to exceed the 30km/hr speed limit.

But will a motorist be deemed to have committed an offence if he fails to give the pedestrian the right of way at a Zebra Crossing?

The FRSC boss informed our reporter that under the Other Violations Offences (OVO) Act, a law that, according to him, had just been made by the National Assembly, motorists who failed to stop appropriately at Pedestrian Crossings would be liable to a fine of N10,000. And FRSC and the Nigerian Police are the enforcement agencies in this regard.

"But we have to embark on aggressive public enlightenment before the law can start operating," he added.

Mr. Ernest Igboji, a civil servant, also agreed that the major problem in the Nigerian situation is lack of adequate enlightenment and low level of literacy.

According to him, motorists' compliance with traffic regulations - especially the observance of the Zebra Crossing rule - was not as bad in Abuja as in Lagos. This he believed is due to the fact that Abuja, a planned society, is populated mainly by educated and enlightened people who do not have to be coerced to do the right thing.

From what our reporter found out, one significant factor hindering progress in this regard is government's lack of provision of infrastructure to take care of the need of the pedestrian.

Apart from the obvious lack of governmental regulation and monitoring, the necessary infrastructure is also visibly absent.

In Lagos for instance, which according to the state government is being positioned as a mega city, there are few functional traffic lights. Even then, there is no single one of these few traffic lights in the whole of Lagos State which provides for pedestrians (what in UK is known as the Pelican light).

In the UK, for instance, a pedestrian may cross when a traffic light (Pelican light) indicates green for pedestrians to cross.

In Germany, however, the situation is different. Even where the road is clear more than 50 meters from the pedestrian and the traffic light indicates that he should stop, he MUST stop or risk arrest for doing otherwise. He also risks arrest and prosecution if he crosses at any point on the road before getting to either the Zebra Crossing or the traffic light.

In Lagos, however, where a semblance of order is currently being put in place through the appearance of the Zebra Crossings on the roads, monitoring is still abysmally poor.

Apparently realising that the black and white marks accord them no special privilege, pedestrians (including sometimes paramilitary officers who ordinarily should be enforcing the law) cross the road at unauthorised points.

A minor drama took place on Tuesday in front of the state Secretariat. Our reporter, who had been standing at a safe distance watching activities around the Pedestrian Crossing, suddenly saw two officials of the Lagos State Transport Management (LASTMA) dash across the road at an unauthorised spot away from the Zebra Crossing.

Accosting one of the LASTMA officials, he introduced himself and asked whether he (LASMA) understood and could explain the significance of the black and white marks on the road.

The man, Edem (surname withheld), having seen our reporter holding what to him must have looked like a cine camera (which was in fact a digital camera), was so preoccupied with the prospect of appearing on television that he did not hear the phrase Saturday Tribune.

He asked if he was going to be on television, and offered to go and start directing traffic…

He later, in passable English, gave a comprehensive explanation of Pedestrian Crossing, the responsibility of motorists towards pedestrians at such points, those responsible for enforcing compliance (LASMA of course!), and the penalty for refusing to stop for pedestrians (which he said was N25,000).

"But I did not see you arresting anybody?" Our reporter asked. The man stopped and stared into space for about four seconds as if he suffered a momentary loss of memory; then suddenly announced:

"It's because it's in front of the Governor's Office." "So, offenders are not arrested in front of the Governor's Office?" our reporter pressed on. He either did not hear that one or deliberately ignored it.

Then he added: "The people in those vehicles (he meant the ones that were not stopping for pedestrians at the Zebra Crossing) are going somewhere." And we could not agree with him more: They were, indeed, going somewhere! Aren't we all?