if your vehicle breaking down and obstructing the free flow of traffic is an offence – LASTMA

In a tweet by Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) on March 20th 2022 on their official Twitter page, the agency stated that: “#DoYouKnow that it’s a traffic offence if your vehicle breaks down and obstructs free flow of traffic?”

Many Nigerians reply stating that the breakdown of vehicles should not be an offence because it may not be the fault of the driver.

However, LASTMA Spokesperson, Olumide Filade while explaining to newsmen said that the agency has legal backing on the rule. He went further to state that the responsibility to ensure a vehicle is in good condition lies with the car owner. He also said that any road obstruction as a result of vehicle breakdown has penalties such as payment of obstruction fine.

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“The onus or responsibility of your vehicle moving from point A to point V without causing an obstruction for anybody rests on the owner of the vehicle. That is why even on traffic radio, there is a jingle that they play that ensures you check your vehicle in the morning to ensure it will be able to make the journey to and fro without causing any problem on the road.”

Continuing he said; “Our own job is to make sure that when there is a breakdown of vehicles on the road, we are supposed to move it quickly off the road so that it will not be an obstruction to other people. So that gives us legal backing. The law that’s set up LASTMA which is reviewed in 2018, known as the Lagos Transport Sector Reform Law of 2018 re-emphasises that.”

He was then asked what penalty is given to the driver when his or her car breaks down on the road and he replied saying: “You will be given obstruction fine and you will also pay the towing fee.”