The deplorable and unsafe state of road traffic environment in Nigeria renders children the most helpless, vulnerable and endangered class of road users in the country. Practically, other road users such as the motorists and cyclists are psychologically reckless and unmindful of children safety. Also, the pronounced disorderliness in the admixture of various components of road traffic units such as motor-vehicles, bicycles, tricycles, motorcycles, pedestrians on narrowed, poorly maintained road network further aggravates the confusion, tension, danger and crisis experienced by children. These problems, however, persist because of the divergent focus of the feeble and ineffective national transport policy and road safety framework, as well as the poorly integrated institutional arrangement in road safety apparatus; and the spatio-temporal discontinuity trend in road design, maintenance and classification. Also the disintegrated state of traffic system management, especially in the urban centres, as well as the inexistence of rural road traffic environmental integration, man agreement and planning further complicates the unsafe state of road traffic environment in Nigeria. This paper consequently agitates for the application of users-friendly road traffic environmental concepts like sustainable traffic system management, enhanced and integrated road traffic environment (design, supply and maintenance), prioritization of road traffic safety educational programmes; introduction of road safety fund, with emphasis on children, as well as a functional and dynamic national road safety policy. This is with a view to maintaining a safer road traffic environment for children, aged and disabled in Nigeria, in this millennium. For the covering abstract see ITRD E122795.
Abstract