Lagos State Traffic Management Authority has apprehended 16,000 motorists in different parts of the state for various traffic offences since the beginning of the year.
About 7,000 vehicles belonging to the traffic offenders were towed to LASTMA yards from January to October 2010.
Special Adviser to the State Governor on Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, gave the figures on Friday, in an exclusive interview with our correspondent.
He said, about 23,000 drivers were found to have contravened traffic laws in the state in 2009, as reported by LASTMA, adding that 6,867 violators‘ vehicles were towed during the same period.
The traffic offences, according to Opeifa, are driving against the traffic, parking on the highway or walkway, abandonment of vehicles, also on the highway, and obstruction of traffic due to breakdown.
He berated private vehicle drivers for contributing substantially to the high volume of traffic violation in Lagos.
He said, ”We observe that between the private and commercial vehicle drivers, there is no significant difference in behaviour.”
Going by state government‘s findings, he said, 56 per cent of traffic offenders were commercial drivers, while 44 per cent were private vehicle drivers.
Opeifa rated commercial motorcycle operators and mini-bus (danfo) drivers, especially those controlling buses for disabled people, as worst traffic offenders.
He also said those he called members of unionised drivers as the best-behaved commercial vehicle drivers in the state.
Although Opeifa could not give the details of how much the agency had generated through fines in the last two years, he said that the amount was far below what it required for its daily operations.
”What we get from fines is not enough to pay the salary of LASTMA junior staff, not to talk of the senior staff, the purchase of operation vehicles and their maintenance.
”Traffic management is not for the purpose of revenue. It does bring in money, but it is not enough to fund the operations. What we spend on acquiring tow trucks alone in one year is more than what we generate in two years.”
When pressed to rate the figures based on percentage, he said what the agency generated was less than 30 per cent of the amount it expended on its daily operations.
He also dismissed the notion that LASTMA was under any obligation to meet certain revenue target in a year, noting that the agency only made projection based on what it generated the previous year.
Although he did not disclose the amount, he said, ”the revenue target in the case of LASTMA has not changed in the last two years.”
Opeifa added that the time spent on Lagos road has reduced, attributing this to improved road signage, lane marking among other factors.
Source:http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201011152263971
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