Traffic: How to protect yourself from getting robbed during rush hour

Here are some suggestions on how you can stay safe in Lagos traffic.

Lagos traffic on the weekdays is not for the faint hearted. The evening rush hour can turn a 15 minutes journey into a one hour journey.

During this rush hour, traffic builds up, cars drive bumper to bumper, hawkers comes out to sell their goods and also people get robbed.

The past week has seen victims of car robberies (most of them being women) taking to social media to share their first hand experiences.

Runway model Marie Miller, shared what happened to her on October 29, 2017 in Ikorodu on Instagram.

 

TV producer, Agnes Marquis also put up a post about her experience on October 16, 2017.

 

Here’s how to keep yourself safe in traffic:

Keep valuables away

 

Put your laptop and handbag in the trunk, your phones too. If you need your phone because you are using it to navigate your location, dim the light of the phone and place it where it won’t be clearly visible.

Take off all jewellery (earrings, necklace, rings and your watch).

Lock doors and keep windows wound up

If your air conditioning is not working, crack the window down just a tiny bit. Test and see that even your fingers can’t pass through.

Be vigilant at all times

Pay attention to your surroundings.

 

Place self defense gear next to you

This can be pepper spray, a personal alarm or even a spanner - something you can defend yourself with.

Keep a dummy phone/bag in your car

In most cases, these robbers leave immediately they get what they came for. Keep a decoy mobile phone or a decoy bag you can hand over to them as soon as the threat is established.

Call for help

Usually in these traffic situations, some of the other cars are unaware of what’s happening around them. In case you find yourself in a robbery situation - press your horn to draw attention to your situation. And try to squeeze your car out to there.