I ran into an old schoolmate recently on my way home from work. There I was, waiting at the side of the road for a taxi when a Toyota Camry car stopped just beside me. The driver had swerved to my side carelessly, splattering dirty water on my dress. I was furious but only glared at the driver as I was really tired and didn’t want to make a scene. I was about to walk away when I heard my name being called from inside the car. I couldn’t place the face but the guy kept smiling as he shouted, “Great Ife!” and immediately, my hesitant smile gave way to a full one that took over my face. I remembered him from my OAU days. After exchanging pleasantries, he asked where I was going and offered to give me a lift. I accepted.


There was an elderly man in the front passenger seat so I slid into the back and off we went. Dele, that’s his name, swerved back into the road with the same careless abandon that he exhibited when he parked beside me. On the road, Dele pushed his limits many times. He weaved in and out of traffic with no care for oncoming vehicles. He shouted obscenities at drivers who dared to caution him and the ones who wisely made way for him to pass. At a point, he drove closely behind a car, bumper-to-bumper, and his hand was relatively permanent on the horn, so much so that I developed a headache. All the while, he was in a heated conversation with the front seat passenger, who continually had to tell him to watch the road. Occasionally, he would turn back to me and ask questions: about my friends who were his neighbours in OAU, about work, about nothing.


I began to wonder about Dele’s erratic behaviour when he pulled into a filling station and rained curses on the attendant because she asked him to move forward. “You dey mad! I go show you craze now if you no shut up!” he told the lady. I felt embarrassed. When we left the filling station, he was still yelling, as if the subject of his anger was not a distance away, filling other people’s fuel tanks.

“I get headache o,” he said and began to heavily slap his head with both hands. “I fit disappear, to show you say I be ghost,” he continued, still slapping his head, alternating between using one hand and two. The man in the front passenger’s seat began to calm him down while at the same time turning to me and rubbing both palms together in an apologetic gesture. He was also pointing his index finger at his head in a way that suggested Dele was mentally unstable. As if I needed him to tell me. Dele calmed down enough to give the road his total attention. He parked by a woman selling roasted plantain and asked the elderly man to buy some for him. I alighted immediately, saying I forgot my phone at the office. I was holding my two phones in my hands, after all, what is a little lie when one’s life is at risk. I watched Dele zoom off with his passenger while I patiently waited for a taxi with a sane mind behind the wheels.

You might think it is a rare occasion when a mentally unstable mind drives a car but the truth is, there are many ‘Deles’ sharing the road with you. Yes, people in flowing agbada and well-cut suits, people swaying in their designer dresses with their makeup on point. You take one look at their faces and you think you are with a sane company. If only you knew!

The Medical Director of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital (FNH), Yaba, Lagos, Dr Rahman Lawal has said that over 21 million Nigerians suffer from mental illness, with different levels of severity. 55% of these are people who engage in driving activities. So the chances are, you may have taken a ride or come across a mentally unstable driver 4 times a week without knowing it.

The signs are often there, staring at you but you want to be sure, you want to wait for it to slap you in the face, for the evidence to be shoved down your throat like a bitter pill you have to swallow. Click here for some of the signs to recognise an insane driver:
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Excerpts from www.uturnn.com

issokay! So she wants to take a break?
TTT hope you can read between the line

“This life is a risk, but the risk is by choice. As for me, I prefer to obey traffic rules, than risk endangering people’s lives just to gain only 5 – 10mins”

The above statement was made by a danfo (commercial bus) driver, Mr Hassan Mufutau Babatunde, in the Agege area of Lagos State. It came as a surprise to me, because if you live in Lagos you would agree that the traffic rules are often flaunted at will by commercial bus drivers.

I had an evening appointment, and not wanting to drive, I hopped on a commercial bus heading towards Agege-Pen-Cinema. The journey was uneventful until we approached the traffic light at Ashade by Guinness. The driver came to a halt and waited patiently for the lights to turn green. Several passengers started complaining that the driver was wasting time as other vehicles (including private cars) were beating the traffic light. The driver simply replied them, “I obey traffic rules”.

I was surprised and impressed at the same time. I began to observe his interaction with the road and other road users and the difference was clear. That is a Traffic Safety Ambassador!

We are out to discover more. Are you Traffic Safety conscious? Share your traffic safety story or of that person, you wish to appreciate and we will be happy to share
http://uturnn.com/wanted-traffic-safety-ambassadors/