The General Manager, Lagos State Drivers’ Institute, (LASDRI) Mrs. Afusat Tiamiyu has said that first-line drivers who did not acquire required driving skills from accredited driving schools in Lagos State constitute a serious risk to themselves, their passengers and the society at large.
Tiamiyu, who stated this while featuring as a guest on a radio programme, “Awaye” on Radio Lagos 107.5FM, observed with dismay that most first-line drivers are in the habit of not attending accredited driving schools but rather learn from other drivers, friends or relatives who also do not have the requisite skills in driving.
In her words: “It has become a normal practice that husbands who have been driving for some time will teach their wives. Likewise, commercial bus drivers will teach their conductors how to drive without recourse to any accredited driving school. This has to stop if we want safer roads for the motoring public”.
While appealing to professional drivers to come for their annual mandatory training at the Institute, the General Manager further informed that the LASDRI has started an online training for professional drivers with busy schedules, hence such drivers can go to the institute’s website at www.lasdri.org.ng take the required training and thereafter print a temporary recertification card which will then be taken to any of the institute’s centres to obtain their permanent LASDRI recertification cards.
Speaking in the same vein, a representative of the Driving School Association of Nigeria (DSAN), Mr. Ade Adedokun said part of the basic training that a first-line driver needs to go through includes traffic rules and regulations, road signs/markings and their meaning, as well as driving practice on simulators and vehicle practicalities.
He also warned that any first-line driver that does not have this basic knowledge will be risking his life and that of other road users.
While appreciating the Lagos State Government for its continued partnership with the association, he averred that other stakeholders in the transport industry should also join hands with the government to ensure that the motoring public enjoys the safety of lives/property and also eradicate unskilled and unschooled drivers plying Lagos roads.
