By Seyi Babalola
At least, 10,444 vehicles have failed road worthiness test in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria in the month of January, 2022, when the new policy started, the state government has said.
Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde, in a statement on Tuesday, disclosed that out of 26,442 that were inspected in January 15,998 passed, while 10,444 failed the minimum safety standard tests, adding that some of the failed vehicles had reported for a retest while awaiting others.
The Lagos State Government had introduced the ‘No Vehicle Inspection, No Road Worthiness Certificate’ Policy in January 2022.
Oladeinde said the government has put in place a booking system to address the surge recorded at some vehicle inspection centres.
He said the vehicle inspection would now be based on scheduled appointments across all the testing centres.
Oladeinde also said that the 30 days window of inspection period had been reviewed to 60 days to reduce the panic surge presently seen in some of the inspection test centres, adding that the backlog of already referred vehicles would be cleared between now and February 14 to give room for the Booking System.
The commissioner also maintained that the policy which was introduced to clamp down on rickety vehicles responsible for incessant accidents, loss of lives and property within the metropolis, is equally poised at addressing the traffic congestion caused by several breakdowns of vehicles due to the old process which is no longer sustainable.
He affirmed that public transport owners were not left behind in the new policy regime as some have had their vehicles already checked.
“Vehicle Inspection Officers are also engaging other commercial drivers at various motor parks for vehicle checks to further reduce convergence of vehicles at the inspection test centres,” he said.
Oladeinde added that the state government is ramping up consultation with private partners with vehicle inspection facilities to increase the present existing 27 centres spread across the State, with 5 more mobile test centres already on the way.
While urging residents of the State, especially motorists to cooperate fully with the new policy to further ease traffic flow, and improve safety, the commissioner maintained that seamless transportation system is key to achieving a multi-modal megacity.