By AYODEJI ADEYEMI
Runaway Ramp on Atlanta-Mashville highway, USA
They had beautiful dreams and high
expectations, but all it took to put an end to such were two trailers with
failed brakes. That was the evil that cut short the lives
of seven road users recently along the Onitsha–Asaba Expressway, when two
trailers bizarrely experienced failed brakes almost simultaneously. They ran
over cars and motorcycles, crushing them in the process, mangling human flesh
with steel. It was indeed a gory site as onlookers ran helter-skelter.
Sadly, such tragedy has become a recurring
feature on most of the nation’s high and expressways, as lorries, tankers and
trailers with failed brakes have cut short the lives of several thousand road
users while destroying properties running into millions of naira
Yet these tragedies could be prevented
without the need to wave a magical wand. What is needed is the simple adoption
of the model of constructing runaway truck ramps just before the steep descent
on the high roads and expressways. This allows big vehicles with failed brakes
to veer off the road, thereby averting the danger of such entering a descent
without control.
Runaway truck ramps are usually long, sand
or gravel-filled lanes adjacent to roads with steep grade. The gravel on the
road allows the truck’s momentum to be reduced in a controlled manner, allowing
the driver to bring the vehicle to a halt harmlessly. This model has been used
to excellent effect in Western countries like the United States, US, and the
United Kingdom, where authorities are always prepared for all sorts of emergency
situations. In these countries, runaway truck ramps have prevented big vehicles
with failed brakes from killing other road users.
For such countries, it is simply about
being prepared. This sense of preparedness is also extended to the aviation
sector where airports are built with large room for emergency landings. In the
same vein, the US in fact even went as far as building emergency landing sites
for its space shuttle in the case of any unforeseeable circumstances in far-flung
places in Africa and across Europe. These sites are well manned with personnel
even though they have never been used before.
Though Nigeria may not need to keep its
powder dry with regard to space travel, it however currently has a golden
chance to catch up with other countries with regards to constructing the
life-saving runaway truck tramps. The opportunity is presented through ongoing
rehabilitation works on major highways such as the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway and
the East-West Road, among others. It is hoped that in this regard, government will
now make hay while the sun shines.
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