Four persons have died in the last two months in Uyo metropolis for an alleged failure to observe road traffic signs and measures while driving across ongoing construction sites of the 3rd Ring Road.
The accidents according to eyewitnesses, occurred on different days along the Oron Road axis of the 3rd Ring Road under construction by Hensek Integrated Services Limited when their vehicles overrun one of the roundabouts under construction.
In all, six vehicles including a truck and five cars were involved with three of the vehicles damaged beyond repairs after hitting the roundabout and somersaulting, killing the occupants on the spot.
In all, the drivers were said to be driving on speed above the required speed limits on the Ring Road which were regulated because of heavy moving equipment and stones barricading some portions of the road.
The most recent occurred on October 31st and involved a commercial driver identified simply as Eric, an indigene of ONNA Local Council of the state but who resided in Uyo.
Eric was said to have rushed to the Uyo-Oron Motor Park around 3am of that day to book his turn to load passengers from Uyo to Oron before the ill-fated accident.
One of his colleagues at the Park, who gave his name as Joseph Okon, told Correspondents that Eric may have been driving on a speed to book his turn as he died on the spot after his salon car somersaulted on the roundabout.
“We heard the sound of crash from the Motor Park which is very close to the roundabout and we rushed to the scene. We were surprised to see the levels of damage on his car with him inside the vehicle because where he lives here in Mbiabong is less than a kilometre to this Park.
“We broke the car, brought him out but he was already dead with blood all over his body inside the badly damaged car.” Okon said.
On whether the deceased was under the influence of alcohol, he added, “I can’t tell because that time was too early for someone to get drunk but I am suspecting that he over-sped and lost control while trying to negotiate the roundabout.”
On whether there are no road signs by the construction firm signaling danger ahead of the roundabout under construction to warn motorists plying the road, another driver at the park said the signs were not visible enough.
“There is but the signs are not easily noticeable at night because there are not reflective enough to vehicles light at night. There should have been the type used by the Federal Road Safety Corps which someone can easily see the reflective warning light at night on the danger ahead.”
However, correspondents who visited the area observed that the warning signs were conspicuous on each side of the road, few metres before the roundabout with Construction Tape on the roundabout and other barricaded areas under construction.
A top official of Hensek Construction who pleaded anonymity reffered newsmen to the Ministry of Works but expressed reservations over the attitude of drivers on roads under construction in different parts of the state.
He maintained that the Ring Road is yet to be handed over to the state government while the company has ensured that adequate signs to alert drivers and commuters on the dangers posed by construction equipment, excavations and right of way were put in place at appropriate locations.
He said that despite enlightenment campaigns by the Federal Road Safety Commission and other bodies, over speeding and carelessness of some drivers especially the commercial drivers have resulted in most of the accidents.
The state commissioner of works Prof. Eno Ibanga could not be reached as he is said to be out of the country.
