By Che Oyinatumba
 June 23rd, 2008,
6 a.m EST
In a bid to curb the reckless
driving by drivers in Lagos state, the Lagos State
Government has enacted Road Traffic Law that will make an
employer of a reckless driver criminally liable for the
actions of his driver. The offences for which the owner will
be liable include; driving against the traffic by his
driver; over speeding by the driver and overloading It is
common site on Lagos roads for Danfo, bullion vans and other
cars to drive against the traffic with little or no regards
to the traffic rules and regulation.
According to Lagos State sources at Alausa, this measure is
to ensure that employers of drivers control their drivers.
Lagosians have berated the government over this obnoxious
law, saying that it is an intellectual shallow
misunderstanding of the concept of vicarious liability. They
question how a Senior Advocate of Nigeria governor can allow
this law to be effective, knowing that criminal liability is
not transferable.
Lagosians welcome the effort to curb the reckless driving on
the streets of Lagos but frown at the intended culpability
of the owner of the car for the criminal frolic of the
driver.
Another worrisome development in Lagos State , is the
readiness of the Lagos State Government to arrest any
commuter who gives alms to any bagger, or buys any item from
a hawker. Furthermore, the state has banned street party,
claiming that it blocks the road. The government should
understand that Lagosians have no space to celebrate their
rites and owambe, as development has eaten off the
ancestral compound, living only the street as alternative.
There appears to be an uneasy calm as both lagosians and
government await who will bell the cat and throw the state
into uprising.
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