We have seen road traffic crashes caused by drivers making bad decisions, including speeding, disobedience to traffic rules, and distracted driving.
However, some accidents are not caused by the driver, rather, the bad state of the roads. Even the most careful drivers can get into accidents.
Many Nigerian roads have deteriorated to the level where they become dangerous. This includes potholes, uneven road surfaces, broken concrete, exposed rebar, sinkholes, road cracks, among others. This increases the likelihood of an accident that can damage your car, cause injury to you and your passengers, and cost you time and money.
But who suffers from these effects?
It is important to focus on the impact of road crashes at the household level. The impact on a family losing a loved one through accidents caused by poor roads could be enormous, both in terms of emotional trauma and/or loss of income.
If a member of a family is involved in a road crash, what kind of changes are likely to occur in that particular family? If the head of the household or breadwinner is killed or severely injured, the impact to that household can be devastating.
4 drastic effects of poor roads
As much as we know, roads play a crucial part in the continuation of social interaction, economic development, livelihood and properties. Here are, however, four major ways poor roads affect lives:
* Death: The cliché “life is precious” proves void when it comes to bad roads due to high rates of death. For instance, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) recorded 8527 deaths from January to November 2019, which is an estimate of 12 deaths per day. (Premium Times)
* Stagnant Economy: Beyond the health hazards, the poor quality of roads could also be a stumbling block to the development of the country. This is because basic goods and services are distributed using road transportation. A country suffers economically when trading is not evenly disturbed due to bad roads.
* Time Wastage: ‘Time is money,’ yet it is usually wasted travelling on bad roads. Hours that can be diverted to something profitable are wasted on the road. A journey that takes 5 hours can turn to 7 hours due to bad roads.
* Loss of properties: Vehicles could be damaged or lost due to accidents on bad roads, this mostly results in less productivity or loss of livelihood for the drivers and owners.
