Edo traffic agency sends 52 erring drivers for psychiatric test

The Edo State Traffic Control and Management Agency (EDSTMA) on Friday said the agency sent 52 drivers apprehended for various traffic offenses in the state for psychiatric evaluation.

Dennis Oloriegbe, managing director of EDSTMA, during an inspection tour of the agency’s facilities by Governor Godwin Obaseki and members of the State Executive Council (EXCO), in Benin City, said four of the erring drivers were diagnosed with depression.

Oloriegbe, however, said the agency’s drivers training academy has tutored over 1,200 drivers, comprising drivers apprehended for serious traffic offenses and those within the civil service.

Godwin Obaseki, on his part, said the state invested heavily in the agency because of the need to ease traffic management in the state.

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Obaseki added that the leading cause of traffic congestion is practices among drivers, particularly commercial drivers, and people refusing to obey traffic signs.

“Traffic is a major issue for us in the city. We are working very hard with experts on what to do to ease traffic congestion in the state.

“I am here to make sure that we put facilities in place to train and apprehend defaulters; to see how well equipped the traffic agency is and also understand their challenges.

“In the next few weeks, apart from amending a few bye-laws, we are going to be taking measures to curb recklessness among drivers in the city,” the governor said.