Bola Afolabi
Renowned actress, Kate Henshaw, has opined that pedestrian laws or traffic laws are not respected or obeyed as it should be unlike other civilised countries.
Henshaw in a recent interview with News Central TV, shared her experience as regards obedience of pedestrian rules and regulations.
According to the actress and brand ambassador, pedestrians abroad, are respected. And so Nigeria should also emulate such.
“It is advisable to travel the world or to as many places as one can afford, to see how others function in their societies. To see how orderliness can indeed be a mindset that must be imbibed.
One thing I have seen is the power of pedestrians in developed countries as opposed to here, where if you’re not driving a car, you are considered persona non grata.
“The Nigerian highway code states, ‘You have no right of way at a pedestrian crossing or zebra crossing until you have stepped on it. When you do, traffic should give way to you.’
I boldly state that this is a complete fallacy.
The pedestrian has no right whatsoever and is even dared to step on the faded zebra stripes if they are so emboldened. Abroad, pedestrians and even animals are respected,” she stressed.
Recounting a personal experience, she added, “An incident occurred while I was being driven on the expressway in a province in Canada.
The traffic lights suddenly stopped working for a bit, and there was no chaos, hassle, or disruption to the movement of traffic.
Everyone from each junction took turns waiting for two cars from each lane to drive.
No traffic warden stepped in to organize the people. Why behave like zoos should be our natural habitat?”
