Six fatal mistakes that caused Ocholi’s death
The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, (FRSC) Boboye Oyeyemi, on Monday, March 7 released an interim report on the fatal auto crash that killed the minister of State for Labour, James Ocholi and his wife and son.
The FRSC attributed the accident that claimed the life of the minister of state for Labour and Productivity, Barrister James Ocholi to over speeding.
Oyeyemi who presented the accident’s road traffic crash investigation interim report to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday, March 9, at the meeting of the body at the presidential villa, Abuja, highlighted a combination of errors that resulted in the crash that killed the minister and some members of his family on Sunday, March 6.
Some of the factors that caused the fatal crash according to the report released by the FRSC includes:
1. Over speeding
The FRSC attributed the main cause of the accident that claimed the life James Ocholi and his wife and son to over speeding.
The FRSC said the driver of the mister was driving too fast and when the Lexus LX570 the minister was travelling sufferd a tyre burst, the driver slammed on his brake so hard and this caused the car to somersault several times, causing death to the minister and his family. The driver of the crashed vehicle was moving at an excess of the stipulated speed when he the tyre burst occurred which resulted in the fatal crash.
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2. Under-inflated tire
The investigation by the FRSC showed also that the minister’s vehicle rear left tyre was under-inflated. This was made known by the driver of the backup vehicle which was accompanying the minister. This was likely the reason for the tyre burst which resulted in the fatal crash.
3. Lack of radio communication between drivers
The unfortunate crash that happened might have been avoided had there been a form of radio communication between the driver of the backup vehicle which was accompanying the minister.
The driver of the backup vehicle had noticed that the minister’s vehicle rear left tyre was under-inflated, but the non-availability of radio communication deprived him of access to the minister’s driver.
4. The tyres of the minister’s SUV were wrongly fixed
Another crucial finding in the investigating showed that the Dunlop tyres of the SUV were not expired but were wrongly fixed and could have affected its performance the tyres. The FRSC said the DOT number of the tyres were inward which indicates that the orientations of the tyres were not properly fixed and this could adversely affect the performance of the tyres.
5. Failure to use seat belts by the deceased
The failure to use seat belts by the deceased minister and his family members decreased their chances of survival in the crash as in revealed by the FRSC investigation. After the tyre bust, the vehicle which was moving at excess speed reportedly somersaulted several times and resulting in the ejection of the minister and his son from the tumbling vehicle, causing instant death of the minister and his son while his wife died at the hospital.
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The investigation showed that the travelling speed of the Lexus LX570 presented unsafe consequences in the event of certain road risk that may have occurred especially if the occupants were not wearing a seat belt as that the occupants of the front seats received less injuries because they made use of their seat belts.
6. The inexperience of the driver
The investigation team gathered that Taiwo James Elegbede, the driver of the minister had no valid driver’s licence as checks by the FRSC showed that the driver’s details were not registered on the FRSC data base as a licensed driver.
Details of the findings also suggest the driver lacked sufficient experience which caused him to enter into a panic after the tyre burst, a situation which resulted to his hard application of brakes and subsequent loss of control that took him into the bush path.
What do you think, would the situation have turned out differently if the above mistakes were avoided?
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