The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Sattrak Telematics, Mr. Abdul Bamgbopa, in this interview with COMFORT OSEGHALE of Punch Newspapers, speaks on the benefits of the speed limit device and the high rate of road crashes in Nigeria

The Federal Road Safety Corps has fixed June 1 for the enforcement of the speed limit device to commercial vehicles. What do you think of this decision?

First, Nigeria’s adoption of the speed limit device on commercial vehicles is coming late, considering the fact that other African countries that came to Nigeria to learn how to set up road safety institutions are already implementing it. I am talking about countries like Kenya and Zambia. It is mandatory for commercial vehicles in these countries to install speed limiters to help check over-speeding. In developed countries, it is the norm.

The decision by the FRSC is a positive one. The FRSC has been tagged as a health concern by the World Health Organisation because of the fatalities that have come from road crashes. On the list of causes of deaths in the world, road traffic accident is a major issue. It is imperative that people have to be concerned globally on how to reduce road traffic accidents to the barest minimum.

In Nigeria, hardly anything moves without the road. The tankers, trucks, cars, buses, motorbikes and bicycles are all on the road; carrying people and goods.

The impact commercial vehicles have on the road when they over-speed is more than the impact private owners would have. This is because the private car owner would only be putting his own life at risk and possibly the passengers he is carrying. It is different from a commercial bus carrying up to 80 persons. The multiplier challenges are enormous if he should get involved an accident. The same applies to a tanker carrying some petroleum product. If it spills its contents on the road, the accident would be fatal. This is where the speed limiter comes in.

Automakers have acknowledged that although the speedometre of a vehicle is between 0 and 200, it does not mean you should drive at 200km per hour. You need to move at a particular speed limit.

What is special about the speed limit device and how does it work?

The speed limiter, also called a governor, governs a set speed limit for a particular vehicle. For instance, according to the FRSC policy, different highways have different speed limits for different vehicles. For a personal car, the common one is 100km per hour. For a truck, it is 65km per hour. For a bus carrying passengers, it is 90km on the highway. Once the speed limiter has been fitted on a vehicle, it ensures that the driver does not go beyond the set speed limit. No matter how the driver accelerates, the vehicle will not be able to go beyond the set speed. The speed limiter does this by either controlling the fuel feed into the engine or by controlling the accelerator pedal. The most common method is the fuel feed. If the fuel is reduced in the vehicle, there is a way it is calibrated that the vehicle cannot go beyond the set speed limit.

So if the speed limit for your vehicle is 100km per hour and you install a speed limiter, you will be able to speed up to 100km per hour but cannot go beyond that. Eventually over time, it gets into the psyche of the driver that he cannot over-speed. Speed thrills, there is this urge to accelerate and it is even more dangerous for the youths. The age range for most drivers of commercial vehicles is between 15 and 40 years. These are people that are exuberant. If you put a young person in charge of a big tanker, this speed limiter would stop the person from over-speeding.

How will the speed limit device be enforced?

Whenever the FRSC team stops a vehicle, they can check your records on the speed limiter or from the sticker on your vehicle showing that you have installed a speed limiter. The sticker shows the set speed limit of the vehicle and the details of the device that has been fitted. They also have a certificate to show the details of the company that installed the speed limiter.

How affordable will it be and what is the possibility that it will not fail?

You cannot put a cost to a human life; so anything you can do to safeguard life and property is valueless. On the issue of affordability, there are market forces in charge. At the beginning of every product, the cost may be high but when volume comes into play, the cost comes down. It is affordable to fleet operators and over time, it would be more affordable to a transporter who owns just one bus.

As for the possibility of failure, the speed limiter is an electronic device built to be rugged. It uses power from the vehicle. As long as the owner of the vehicle has got the right device, no negative impact, rather there are benefits. It is only if you buy a fake product that you would have issues with the way it is installed. If it is not done properly by trained technicians, you would have challenges. Otherwise it remains functional for as long as the vehicle works.

How would you describe the driving culture of Nigerians?

We are one of the worst when it comes to driving; we don’t do well. If you ever get close to fleet operators, they will tell you that their nightmare comes from drivers. We are not patient and everybody seems to be in a hurry. If a lot of people can just reflect a bit, people that drive slowly would discover that it has saved them fuel. A lot of people are now reducing their speed on the road because of the fuel scarcity; the slower they move, the more the fuel lasts.

It can get better. We also have to look at those who get into the driving profession. That is why the Lagos State Government has established an institute for drivers so that people can be trained.

 

Source: Punchng.com

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