A commercial dispatch rider has died after a collision with a containerised trailer at Ilupeju Bypass in Lagos, on Wednesday.
The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) said the accident occurred after the rider reportedly struggled for right of way with a commercial minibus, popularly known as “Korope,” before losing control and crashing into the moving trailer.
LASTMA said the rider died instantly from injuries sustained in the crash. Operatives of the agency responded to distress calls from the Mushin axis and carried out rescue and traffic control operations to ease congestion caused by the incident, according to a statement by its spokesperson, Adebayo Taofiq.
“Preliminary security investigations disclosed that the tragic incident ensued after the dispatch rider reportedly engaged in a dangerous struggle for right of way with a commercial mini bus, popularly known as “Korope,” before losing control of the motorcycle and crashing into a moving articulated trailer along the ever-busy Ilupeju corridor.
“The severe impact of the collision resulted in fatal injuries, culminating in the instantaneous death of the rider at the scene.
The agency’s officials recovered the body from beneath the trailer, while the State Environmental Health Management Unit evacuated the corpse from the scene. It said the damaged motorcycle and the articulated trailer had been handed over to the police for further investigation.
The General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, sympathised with the family of the deceased and urged road users, especially dispatch riders and articulated vehicle operators, to avoid reckless competition for right of way.
He stated, “The essence of the recently concluded stakeholders’ engagement with courier and dispatch riders was fundamentally to sensitize and further educate operators on the imperative of safety consciousness, strict compliance with government prescribed speed limits and adherence to extant traffic regulations in order to avert needless loss of lives on our roads.”