Every road crash that makes the news usually comes with the same sequence. Vehicles collide, emergency responders arrive, victims are taken to hospital, authorities investigate and officials issue warnings about reckless driving.
But after the emergency is over, another question remains: What was done to prevent the crash before it happened?
This question is particularly important in Nigeria and across Africa, where road traffic injuries remain a major public health and safety crisis.
The World Health Organization estimates that 225,482 people died from road traffic injuries in the African Region in 2021. Africa accounted for about 19 percent of global road traffic deaths, despite having only about 15 percent of the world’s population and just 3 percent of its vehicles. The region also recorded a 17 percent increase in road fatalities between 2010 and 2021, making it the only WHO region to experience an increase during that period.
The global picture is equally serious. About 1.19 million people die every year in road crashes, while another 20 to 50 million suffer non fatal injuries. Road traffic injuries remain the leading cause of death among people aged 5 to 29.
Nigeria’s own figures demonstrate the scale of the challenge.
According to the Federal Road Safety Corps, Nigeria recorded 9,570 road traffic crashes in 2024, resulting in 5,421 deaths and 31,154 injuries. December recorded the highest number of crashes, with 1,087 cases and 566 deaths, followed by January with 990 crashes and 530 deaths.
The numbers make one thing clear: responding after a crash is not enough.
Speed is a preventable risk
The FRSC reported that between January and September 2023, Nigeria recorded 7,830 crashes, with 69 percent classified as speed related. The agency described speed as a major contributor to crashes and pursued speed limiting measures as part of its prevention strategy.
This illustrates an important HSE principle. If a known hazard repeatedly contributes to incidents, simply treating injured victims after crashes is not prevention.
Prevention requires controlling the hazard before the crash occurs.
That means enforcing speed limits, improving road design, ensuring vehicles are mechanically sound, controlling driver fatigue, strengthening licensing standards and protecting vulnerable road users.
It is not only about drivers
Road safety is sometimes reduced to a discussion about reckless motorists. But crashes are influenced by the entire transport system.
The WHO identifies speeding, drink driving, distracted driving, unsafe road infrastructure, inadequate enforcement and unsafe vehicles among the major risk factors.
Pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists are particularly vulnerable. Globally, more than half of road traffic deaths involve vulnerable road users.
Across Africa, the problem is especially severe. WHO data shows that the African Region has the world’s highest road traffic fatality rate, estimated at 19.4 deaths per 100,000 people.
WHO has also identified Nigeria, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania as countries that collectively account for a substantial share of road deaths in the African Region.
Prevention must happen before the crash
A serious road safety strategy cannot depend entirely on ambulances, hospitals and post crash investigations.
It must ask what happened before the vehicle left the road.
Was the driver rested?
Was the vehicle properly maintained?
Were the tyres safe?
Was the driver speeding?
Was the road properly designed?
Was there adequate lighting?
Were pedestrians protected?
Was the driver properly licensed?
Were traffic laws actually enforced?
These questions move road safety from reaction to prevention.
The HSE principle is simple: identify the hazard, assess the risk and control it before someone gets hurt.
Nigeria’s road safety challenge therefore requires more than occasional campaigns after major crashes. It requires continuous enforcement, better data, safer infrastructure, vehicle maintenance, responsible driving and stronger public participation.
Passengers also have a role. The FRSC has specifically encouraged passengers to speak up against dangerous driving and report violations, noting that passengers can be among the people most affected by reckless driving.
A crash should never be treated as simply an unfortunate event when the contributing risks were known beforehand.
The real measure of road safety is not how quickly we respond after people crash. It is how effectively we prevent them from crashing in the first place.
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