Date:March 1, 2019, 5:31 am
Lagos VIO impounds Commissioners, lawmakers’ vehicles with expired documentsBy Mod - 1 hour ago - [ Update ]
By Monsuru Olowoopejo
LAGOS—-A new social order is gradually unfolding in Lagos State with the state Government’s introduction of Automatic Number Plate Recognition, ANPR and Closed Circuit Television, CCTV, to reduce the face-off between motorists and Vehicle Inspection Officers, VIO, in the state.
It has also helped in enforcing the transportation law that often caused gridlock on Lagos roads.
Under this new order, motorists need not panic that they would be flagged down by the VIO to check validity of their vehicle documents, which had been the practice several years before now, but cannot hide whenever they contravene the traffic law or ply roads without proper vehicle documentations.
This is because the Electronic-Inspection technology will capture and issue appropriate fine immediately.
Those that have been caught by this new technology were members of the National and State House of Assembly, aides to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, and clergymen, who were found to have plied the roads with expired documents.
The face-off between VIO and motorists that often resulted in gridlocks had been over vehicle administration offences which include invalid documents, removal of unroadworthy vehicles and other sundry offences.
The use of electronic enforcement started when the state governor, who was oblivious of those whose vehicles maybe found wanting by the new trend, ordered that the VIOs vacate the road completely and embrace technology, after residents identified their previous strategy as one of the major reasons gridlocks increased within the state.
The new mode of operation embraced in Lagos, according to Director, Vehicle Inspection Service, Lagos State, Gbolahan Toriola, an engineer, has allowed the ANPR to deal with vehicle certification and identification of unroadworthy vehicles.
Speaking with Vanguard, Toriola, who spoke through Mr. Akin-George Fashola, stated that the new technology has greatly reduced the confrontation that often ensued between them and motorists over vehicle documentation in Lagos.
The director stressed that they do not need to stay on the road to discover any vehicle plying Lagos roads without any valid documents, saying, the ANPR is there to do the job.
He said: “The mode of operation is that whenever the camera captures the number plate of any vehicle, it checks the data available in the state and detects if the vehicle has all necessary documents or not. After querying the system, if the vehicle is found wanting, it issues the fine for that offence and send the vehicle owner the bill stating his fines through a Short Message, SMS or Electronic-mail, with a receipt number for payment.â€
Sources said that thousands of people have been found driving vehicles whose documents had already expired for months.
Toriola argued that ANPR does not discriminate because on the State Government database, the status of the vehicle owners were not stated, rather, the system vehicle number and the owner’s name.
Source:
www.vanguardngr.com/2019/03/lagos-vio-impounds-commissioners-lawmakers-vehicles-with-expired-documents/
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