http://sowheels./2011/12/04/indiscriminate-road-menace/
The likes of Shan George, Terry G, Jerry Amilo, Ruggedman and Stephanie Okereke may be among the lucky few who have survived terrible car crashes, but other stars who were not so lucky had their lives cut short:
22nd April 2010 – “Olaitan ‘Da Grin’ Oladapo was confirmed dead. He died from injuries sustained in a car crash in the early hours of 14th April 2010…”
20th March 2011 – “Ishola Durojaiye, popularly known as Ahmed Alasari dies in ghastly motor accident while travelling from Abeokuta to Lagos to promote new movie…”
24th March 2011 – “Nigerian comedy talent Chijioke CD John dies from injuries sustained in car crash”
25th March 2011 – “Chidinma Mbalaso, 2nd runner-up in maiden edition of D-banj’s reality show Koko mansion dies after reportedly being in coma for several hours following a car crash”
14th September 2011 – “Obiajulu Nwaozor, better known as MC Loph dies in auto crash along Ore-Benin expressway. It was reported that he was on his way to Anambra state for his traditional wedding…”
These sad tales could represent tens of thousands of similar cases in Nigeria each year.

According to the World Health Organization, Road Accidents kill 32,000 in Nigeria yearly.

The “Golden Hour”; time after a road accident, when a victim has a greater chance of survival and a reduction in the severity of their injuries is crucial but often wasted for lack of means of evacuating these victims to hospitals.

75 percent of road accident victims in the country cannot receive professional support immediately after accidents due to logistics problems – The federal Road Safety Commission.

For the victims that make it to the hospital, the process to get the much needed medical attention could take what would be a lifetime for some. Some Medical Institutions out rightly reject road accident victims in dare need of medical attention while others request for police reports, hospital registration or monetary deposits from victims who barely have life left in them. Is a Police report, hospital registration or monetary deposit more important than the lives of patriotic Nigerian citizens? There are countless cases of people who were robbed and shot on the highways; they made it to hospital alive but were denied their right to medical care and as a result, died. We now live in a country where people with bullet wounds are tagged “criminals” and are denied medical care. Refusal to administer proper medical care to any human being - free, suspect or convict, is a total disregard for human life.
The entertainment industry in the past 16 months lost talents who were yet to reach the pinnacle of stardom, and we will never know how much other industries have also lost.
Apart from a few Elites, majority of Nigerians are at risk of not receiving prompt medical attention in the event of a road accident or other emergencies. Does it not bother us that the ones we love are in grave danger of being left to their fates when they need prompt medical attention the most? Every life that could have been saved if not for poor emergency response was somebody’s mother, father, grandparent, brother, sister, son, daughter, wife or husband; they meant something and possibly everything to someone, and therefore can never be replaced.
Like our late President Umaru Yar’Adua said; “Nigeria can ill-afford such colossal waste of human resources”.

SO Wheels (Safe on Wheels)
We now have unshakable conviction that accident causes are man-made and that a manmade problem can be solved by men and women. ~W.H. Cameron
Safety on our roads concerns drivers, passengers and pedestrians alike. The old, young and everyone in-between should know all they can about road safety and practice accordingly because this is the only way to curb the menace on our roads that threatens this generation and ones to come.
SO Wheels is an initiative that aims to:
1. Raising awareness on Road Safety and Road Traffic regulations.
2. Promote road and vehicle maintenance cultures
3. Draw the attention of the Federal and State governments to;
i. The non-existent state of Emergency response and Medical Care delivery in the Country.
ii. The ailing state of healthcare infrastructure in the Country
iii. The disregard for human life exhibited in rejecting and delaying treatment of road accident victims engaged in by some health care institutions in the country.
4. Provide support to Road Traffic Accident victims and their families.
Together we can stop the carnage on our roads and secure the future for generations to come.
To join this cause and help spread the word:

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