The number of vehicles which were presented for computerised vehicle inspection in the pilot phase of the new road worthy policy far outstrips the number recorded in over five years that the Computerised system has been introduced in Lagos, the Vehicle Inspection Service (VIS) said yesterday.
Disclosing this at a strategy meeting with LACVIS Ambassadors at the Radisson Blu Hotel, at Ikeja, a top VIS official, who preferred not to be named because he has no permission to share the information, said in the month of November, when VIS began the pilot phase of the policy, VIS recorded 9,997 vehicles at all its computerised testing centres.
He said: “My checks at the close of work just last Friday showed that a total of 9,997 vehicles had been presented for computerised checks in the month of November alone. This is just three vehicles away from 10,000 and this is worthy of note because, one, this is just a pilot phase and secondly we limited the pilot to corporate fleets only.”
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According to him, the figure which was for just from corporate (fleet operators), is an indication that the VIS and its partner, the Lagos Computerised Vehicle Inspection Service (LACVIS), are ready to fully implement the policy, which is one of the transportation reforms of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration.
He explained that the ‘no test, no roadworthy certificate’ policy, is aimed at ensuring that all vehicles plying the state roads are road worthy, adding that vehicles would be expected to be presented at any of the testing centres free of charge and motorists with defective vehicles would only be issued road worthy certificates only repairing such vehicles.
He informed that there is no going back on the full implementation of the policy aimed at making the roads safer for all users.
Earlier the LACVIS Ambassadors had expressed support for the new policy, which is in line with the THEMES agenda of the government, even as they expressed readiness to embark on a road show round the state to draw support for the policy and enlist motorists’ voluntary compliance.
The ambassadors, drawn from the media, transportation related non-government organisations, the creative arts industry, artisans and marketing and advertising industry, said citizens’ ownership of the policy is central to the full realisation of government’s objective to rid the state of accident-prone vehicles.
A road safety advocate and LACVIS ambassador, Patrick Adenusi, said, close to 40,000 deaths are recorded on Nigerian roads yearly, i.e. over 3,333 deaths every month, a development which makes Nigerian roads one of the most unsafe in the world. He said any initiative aimed at reducing the fatality figure must be encouraged and supported.
Earlier, LACVIS Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Prince Olusegun Obayendo, said the platform of LACVIS Ambassadors was created to help drive citizen’s engagement and to ensure the success of all government initiatives, among them computerised vehicle inspection aimed at promoting safety on the roads.
He said LACVIS was established to partner with the state government to drive safety culture, adding that motorists have a responsibility to ensure that any vehicles put on the road does not constitute danger to the environment or lives of other road users.