Road Safety
A couple of weeks ago, I left home early for an appointment on a Friday afternoon. Being mindful of Muslim Jumat prayers, I wanted to beat the traffic-but the rush at Kado-Life Camp roundabout had other plans. A broken-down truck had brought everything to a crawl.
I stayed on the left lane, heading toward Gwarinpa, Abuja, in the Federal Capital Territory, calm and unhurried. Vehicles from Jabi-Airport junction were pushing aggressively through the roundabout but I wasn’t bothered. I was in the right lane, doing the right thing as was expected of ‘Oga driver’, having spent years teaching and preaching responsible road safety.
Then I heard it- a sharp scrape against my passenger-side mirror. A truck, cutting through recklessly, had clipped it clean off. I was calm, knowing that EL-Roi who sees me was watching- just then, an angel who speaks pidgin and the queen’s English fluently- a driver attached to Julius Berger, a construction company with a high safety profile, drove by and whispered something to me.
The Good Samaritan nearby who witnessed the Friday afternoon ‘madness’, urged me to stop the driver before he disappeared into traffic. And disappearing is exactly what he was trying to do even in the heavy traffic buildup.
When I finally pulled him over, the young man had the nerve to claim I had hit him from behind. Two occupants who by their looks should be in their twenties, seasoned the insult by displaying a height of rudeness and arrogance rather than diffuse the tension. It took over a week of back and forth before he finally replaced my mirror.
Now, this moon-light story is not to complain. Nor, is it to brag or show-off- because the experience was tortuous, to say the least. I am telling it because of what my friend, Ezekiel Johnson gave me sometime in 2024 – a dashcam. A quiet, unassuming little device that I now consider one of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever received. In that moment with the truck driver, having footage of the incident would have ended the arguments and insults in seconds. Unfortunately, the Dashcam had some technical faults just a few days before the incident.
Do you know why every driver needs one-a Dashcam?
It is because we live in an age where all sorts of people find their way behind a wheel even after undergoing the tutoring to earn a license and authorised to drive a vehicle-some trained, some barely, while some I once tagged ‘lunatics’, because of their deception.
These are learners who, while still learning how to drive, fail to display their ‘L’(learner) sign but rather hide the sign, which in itself is a traffic violation. I would rather not bore you with the bashing I received for asking if such drivers, were ’lunatics or learners’.
For reminders, a dashcam doesn’t just judge or intervene, but it watches, especially in the absence of the appropriate closed-circuit television (CCTV) technology, traffic cameras or other complimentary surveillance systems-And that watching matters more than most people realise, especially if you found yourself in my shoes.
At its simplest, a dashcam is a small camera fixed to your windshield or dashboard, quietly recording everything in front of you-and sometimes behind-as you drive. But what it represents is something much bigger: a witness that never sleeps, never forgets, and never takes sides. Some dashcam, like the owl which has large fixed eyes that require them to rotate their heads up to 270degrees, have 270- degree rotating lenses.
When a road crash happens, like I experienced, the truth is often the first casualty. Please, if you are in doubt, ask Golf Legend, Tiger Woods. Eyewitnesses misremember. Stories shift. People irrespective of their ages, gender or class point fingers. Religious people deny God instantly rather than just speak up, truthfully.
A dashcam cuts through all of the lies, deceptions, twists and turns and swearing with a timestamped, factual record of exactly what happened. For drivers, like me who faced false accusations and lies or, that footage can make the difference between justice, and injustice. Those who have suffered near miss/lynching in the hands of a mob crowd will appreciate the timely witness of a dashcam.
If you drive in any of the major cities in our clime, this message is for you. This is because disputes between road users can become complicated or worse weaponized. No matter the scenario you find yourself in, your dashcam footage will always speak as the unbiased arbiter, especially in the face of rising accident scams.
But, do you know the flipside of having a dashcam? A dashcam changes your driving which is quite humbling knowing that your dashcam is also recording you and might be the witness against your crazy driving. Driving with a dashcam is like driving a marked vehicle such as a Federal Road Safety Corps marked vehicle where every one of your mistakes are being watched by the public.
That is why drivers with dashcam, just like marked vehicles are born again drivers-more deliberate, courteous of traffic rules such as speed and running a red light, respectful and civil. Similar to the psychological concept of the Hawthorne effect, recording a driver turns the act of driving in a broadway for the camera, often resulting in fewer sudden lane changes, less aggressive behaviour among others. Road safety professionals call this ‘common sense’ while Psychologists call it the observer effect. Notwithstanding this humbling observer effect, the big fleet operators, irrespective of the fleet size, would find this tool valuable and handy as a motoring tool to watch for bad driving behaviours of their drivers, as well as other reckless drivers. Thus, projecting responsible driving across board. This is one tool that the relevant authorities should make mandatory for cab drivers and in fact all commercial vehicles. Dashcams are a must have for vehicle owners and drivers as they are not just valuable in the event of a road traffic crash but in other possible crisis situations between road users or between a road user and a traffic officer.
I don’t know if you have been stopped by trigger-happy security operatives or a traffic officer who labels you all sorts or even attempts to extort you. Your dashcam footage will be your alibi and nail him without a defense. Dashcam becomes your tool against hit and run, or one-way driven security vehicles, as well as convoy driven vehicles with no regard for the laws. In the event of a near miss with such defaulters, your footage will protect you.
The value of dashcam reminds me of the Corps accident films that were mandatory watch for traffic rule defaulters. The sobering effect was impactful although a handful forgot immediately they completed their session. Please remember that dashcams don’t prevent road traffic crashes.
The value lies in capturing the ‘what, when, why and even how’, if necessary. The onus lies on you to drive defensively and cautious. As a warning, remember that the clips are not meant for content creation but if needed to be represented as valuable footage to help resolve a road conflict.
My friend did not disclose the cost, but I know that those who can afford it should please get one, including our parents who lease school runs to commercial drivers or personal drivers. It could make the difference in the safety and security of your child. From my experience, the price of a dashcam against the inconvenience of a week of chasing someone to replace my side mirror makes sense. Because proof is everything, especially in a traffic crash where lives are lost, or in the kind of scenario I found myself, my counsel is that you get one and thank me later.
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