Photos: Incessant Accidents On Odo Iya Alaro Bridge Are Worrisome

• The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), recorded at least two serious accidents on the Ojota towards the Maryland side of the road.

The popular Odo Iya Alaro Bridge at Ojota, New Garage, and Maryland axis in Ikorodu area of Lagos State is fast becoming known for incessant road accidents, just last week, the bridge recorded two different accidents and this should be a growing concern for the Lagos State Government.

The bridge which is known for heavy vehicular traffic daily is used by various vehicles such as trailers, fuel tankers, and commercial buses as well as private vehicles. The bridge is always busy on both sides of the dual carriageway.

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In the last few weeks, the bridge has witness cases of vehicle accidents such as heavy-duty vehicles ramming into smaller vehicles, leading to the death of other road users in some cases. The continuous accident is becoming alarming, particularly on the Maryland side.

As observed, the state of the bridge from Ojota towards Maryland is too sloppy. This side of the bridge has recorded cases where heavy-duty vehicles ram into other vehicles as they descent from the sloppy side and thus experience failed brakes.

The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), recorded at least two serious accidents on the Ojota towards the Maryland side of the road.

The traffic agency attributed the causes of the accidents to brake failure, this has caused damages to other vehicles.

On July 16, an articulated vehicle carrying an electric pole, lost control and ram into two vehicles while descending from the slope. The affected vehicles are Mercedes Benz ML320 and a Volvo hatchback, damaging them in the process.

Two officials of the LASTMA who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak present at the accident scene, said that the driver of the truck carrying electricity pole, while coming from the Ojota end and on reaching the New Garage, suddenly lost control on the road apparently due to brake failure and rammed into the two cars that were inside moving traffic in the area.

Also on July 13, on the same Odo Iya Alaro Bridge, a trailer carrying a 40-foot container lost control while coming from Ojota apparently due to brake failure, causing damage to five vehicles including a yellow commercial bus while four passengers in the bus sustained various degrees of injuries.

It was gathered that as a result of the loss of control, the trailer caused damage to five vehicles which included a yellow commercial bus, a private bus, two cars, and a TATA commercial bus, damaging them in the process.

It was learnt that after the loss of control, the trailer rammed into popular commercial bus, danfo cause the bus to land on its side before running into other vehicles, and damaging them in the process.

On June 13, a dispatch rider sustained injuries after accident as a result of excessive speeding and rammed into another danfo with passengers in it. The danfo was said to also be in motion at the same Odo Iya Alaro Bridge and this left injuries on some persons.

Speaking on the reasons for increase in cases of accidents on the bridge for some time, one of the LASTMA officials said the situation of the bridge and the carelessness of articulated vehicle drivers could be the reasons cases of accidents are increasing.

He also said the traffic bottleneck on the bridge is almost on a daily basis, with vehicles spending close to two hours on the road some time and if any articulated vehicle coming from the Ojota end of the road loses its brake at that moment, there is the likelihood that the articulated vehicle will crash into vehicles in traffic.