No going back on psychiatric test for traffic offenders – FRSC

.You must be sincere, says NARTO

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on Thursday maintained that it will not shift ground on the proposed psychiatric test on life threatening traffic offenders which is slated to commence nationwide as from July 1, 2017.

According to the Corps, the test will focus on life threatening traffic offences such as use of phone while driving, route violation, traffic light violation, dangerous driving and overloading.

In a statement released on its website by the Corps’ Head of Public Education Officer, Mr. Bizi Kazeem, offenders shall have their driver’s licences withdrawn pending confirmation of their sanity or otherwise which will be conducted in an approved government hospital just as they will also bear the financial expenses.

“The move arose from observed aggravating crashes and disobedience to road traffic laws and regulation.

“This nation can no longer watch the lives and property of its citizens wasted by a few nonconformists on the highways,’’ he quoted the Corps Marshal, Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, as saying.

Meanwhile, mixed reactions have continued to trail the proposed test by the FRSC.

National President, National Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Dr. Ibramim Pategi, said that FRSC ought to conduct eye test, psychological and others tests before even issuing the driver’s licence, adding the post offence psychiatric test is a welcome development but must be conducted with all sincerity so that drivers will not be subjected to unnecessary hardship.

“I think we need to start somewhere and conform to global practice. So many things have already been introduced by the FRSC like the speed limiter but we are not aware of the details of its implementation. FRSC must be sincere with this test.

“Even before you obtain a driver’s licence, you are supposed to undergo eye test, psychological and other tests and not after you have committed an offence,” Pategi stated.

Miss Ngozi Okafor, an Abuja base civil servant, said the behaviour of motorists on the road especially in Abuja called for a check on their mental state.

“Abuja is a place where the roads are too wide for motorists. They prefer driving on sidewalks meant for pedestrians.
“Security agents and private vehicle owners are not left out in this madness. I hope the FRSC will have the courage to also subject them
to psychiatric test,’’ she said.

However, some countries in Europe and America subject drivers to psychological test when they are involved in some traffic offences. Australia subject drivers to alcoholic test if they suspect that a driver is under the influence of alcohol. The Lagos State government made an attempt to enforce psychological test on drivers who overload or drive against the traffic in 2014 but the programme failed to take off.