The Lagos State Government in a review of the ‘No Vehicle Inspection, No Road Worthiness Certificate Policy’, has introduced a booking system to stem the surge recorded at some vehicle inspection centres.
This is as many vehicle owners have expressed pain and frustration at the long hours they have to wait to have their vehicles physically inspected at Vehicle Inspection Service (VIS) centres before they are issued certificates.
This was made known by the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Frederic Oladeinde, who while explaining the amendment made on the procedure of receiving a roadworthiness certificate in the state, stated that the vehicle inspection will now be based on scheduled appointments.
Oladeinde revealed that the 30 days window of inspection period has been reviewed to 60 days to reduce the panic surge presently seen in some of the inspection test centres, adding that the backlog of already referred vehicles will be cleared between now and February 14 to give room for the Booking System.
He maintained that the policy, which was introduced to clamp down on rickety vehicles responsible for incessant accidents, loss of lives and property within the metropolis, is equally poised to address the traffic congestion caused by several breakdowns of vehicles due to the old process which is no longer sustainable.
The commissioner also affirmed that public transport owners are not left behind in the new policy regime as some have had their vehicles already checked, noting that Vehicle Inspection Officers are also engaging other commercial drivers at various motor parks for vehicle checks to further reduce the convergence of vehicles at the inspection test centres.
Oladeinde said that the state government in consultation with private partners with vehicle inspection facilities have concluded plans to increase the present existing 27 centres spread across the State with 5 more mobile test centres already on the way.
He commended motorists who have submitted to the Inspection at the Lagos State Computerised Centres across the State, noting that out of 26,442 that were inspected in January, 15,998 passed while 10,444 failed the minimum safety standard tests, adding that some of the failed vehicles have reported for a retest while awaiting others.
What you should know
Recall that in December 2021, the Lagos State Government had announced plans to commence the ‘No Inspection, No Certificate of Roadworthiness’ policy by January 2022. The state government said the initiative is part of the reforms in the transportation system in the state is to help improve safety on all roads across the metropolis as well as help to curb and reduce to the barest minimum the accident rate which had spiked in recent times.
Earlier in January 2022, the state government denied allegations that the newly introduced ‘no-vehicle inspection, no road-worthiness’ policy is an exercise targeted at generating revenue for the state government. It stated that the policy was initiated by the state following the refusal of vehicle owners to bring their cars for testing as long as they have the certificate.
