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So we all know how that feeling boils up inside of us. That sensational feeling and the sweetness therein; the sound of knock-out bangers, the symphony of christmas carol hymnals and the gleam of christmas light and decorations everywhere. The trend is visible to all, you need no one to remind you of the fact that It’s christmas and the week that follows suit is the week that ushers in the new year.  

As awesome and encouraging this feeling is that it tends to ginger virtually everybody to start writing their resolution for the year while in the year that’s about to end. These resolutions carry a lot of weight as 80% of the resolution involves money and this requires a lot of physical hustle, physical hustle that deals with time, energy as well as automobile swiftness.

It is however paramount that one takes precautions to ensure safety this festive season. In this article, we will be discussing quite  number of things are most likely to endanger lives around us, so grab a cup of tea as we take you on a safety ride.

1. Don’t drink and drive:  If this could be sticked on everybody’s car (both commercial and private) it would save lives and reduce the risks that drivers put us in the country and world at large. From the happiness of Christmas to the heart thumping sensation that everyone feels as soon as the hour of 12.am of every january 1st, it is important to note that alcohol should not be the best option to resort to. If you must drink, it should be in the confines of your room, where you can do all sorts. Research has it that Accidents caused by alcohol during yuletide season are incomparable to other days as drivers tend to drink to stupor from the joys of the festive season. With alcohol in their system; they feel they can make the car fly past traffic, bridges and covets when they drive.

Here’s a message to all commercial and private drivers, PLEASE! Don’t drink and drive, you are not only endangering your life, but that of the passengers and their family members as well as putting your family members at risk. There are a lot of people out there who love you unconditionally to see you die of alcohol in this jollification season.

tell me how you’ll get out of this???

2. Don’t be too kind-hearted to offer everyone a ride:  Not everyone you see on the streets have the same goodwill as you, seeing them dressed as cool as you can imagine doesn’t mean they have a godly behaviour. Some are wolves in sheep clothing, some are as mean as a hungry crocodile, they’ll strip and shred you into pieces.

While driving on the streets of Lagos and in the vast region of Nigeria in the early hours of the day especially, one should be careful of commuters who seem to beg for free ride to their various destinations this festive period. Some disguise as harmless passengers that once you let them in; they’d not only rob you of your valuables, they might leave with your car, shoot to kill or sometimes use voodoo on their victim and eventually use their supposed good samaritan for rituals. We are in the last hours of the year, it’s advisable that we stay vigilant. If need be, one should put on a strong face as you drive in the early hours of the day this festive period, God won’t punish you for not giving commuters a ride.

N.B: Its your car not a Kabu-kabu

3. Be vigilant of cars and buses you hop onto:  For all public transport users, if there’s one thing to be careful of, it’s the cars and buses you hop onto. From the observable trend all over the world, we all are happy that we feel the happiness spreads to the underworld rascals. Kidnappers, thieves and ritualists have devised an idea: they would disguise as  commercial drivers and conductors whose primary aim is to get passengers to their destination, once they have quite a handful of people in their bus, they take off on another route and then unleash hell on their helpless passengers: kidnapping them for ritual killings, or better still robbing them and then pushing them off the bus while in motion.

It is advisable that we all take precautions as regards buses and cars;

• Don’t hop on a car that has too many males on it and even if you will, it should be males that rushed in with you at the bus-stop.
• Don’t rush into buses that do not have the Lagos commercial colour.
• Don’t rush into buses or cars that do not have plate numbers.
• When you discover that the conductor or driver keeps prompting themselves to leave a bus-stop, be sure to opt to get off the bus.

4. Be sure to understand your Car:  This safety tip is applicable to both commercial drivers and private drivers. This festive period, it’s more serious than you think: deaths, kidnaps and robbery cases have been reported on highways and on local roads. The police can only try, they are not gods, neither do they have special abilities. Whenever you’re about to leave home, be sure to check if your car is in good shape before you hit the road.

Make sure your car is intact so you won’t have issues with it especially when you’re traveling out of the state to avoid breakdown in the middle of nowhere which will expose your vulnerability to the manipulation of robbers and kidnappers.

5. Ensure You have a Fire Extinguisher:  This safety tip has been abandoned by all, this is own to the fact that we feel there can’t be traces of fire whatsoever.  For travellers who drive on the highway, having a fire extinguisher is more like having a million dollar ticket. As much as it can save you from fire and getting burnt to death,  it can save you from the snares of death as it can be used as a weapon against robbers and kidnappers.

6. Always have your ‘Seatbelt’ on:  Thank God for the compel by LASTMA and FRSC. Nigerians especially Lagosians are so nonchalant when it comes to seat belts, they have taken it for granted that they believe it belongs to the oldies who are afraid of death. For every driver and passenger, availability of seat belts have been made to ensure safety and less casualties when engaged in accidents or collision.  

The life saving tool; embrace it please.

7. Obey Traffic Signs and Traffic Lights:  As discussed earlier; its the festive period, it is paramount that we try as much as possible to obey traffic signs and traffic lights, this should be observed to prevent road accidents and traffic. This festive season can be so overwhelming to drivers as they tend to drive with their eyes closed. Life has no duplicate oo.

Road signs are for a reason, nobody is above the law.

With the few safety tips discussed above, we hope you do not only read them, but that you take them into cognizance on the streets of Lagos and in the country at large.

• Horn before Overtaking.
• Be sure to slow down when you’re about enter pot-holes.
• Always have a spare tyre when driving.

Whatever is done cannot be undone but preventive measures can be adopted. Let us live and abide by the rules, not because its the festive season alone, but because we have to make it our natural responsibility by living and abiding by the laws that guide our mega city and country.