The rampaging Lagos car thief

A few days ago, the Lagos State Police Command reportedly apprehended a male suspect who allegedly attempted to steal a luxury Toyota Tundra. He drove in a reckless manner, injuring a number of people and damaging some vehicles. The incident occurred along the Lekki corridor in the state. The sordid narrative was that the suspect visited a motor dealership, feigning interest in buying the car. He requested a test-drive and he was obliged. That was when he reportedly ran berserk, driving the car on high speed and hitting people and vehicles along the way.  Judging by the number of vehicles reportedly hit by the reckless driver, the scope of the damage inflicted and the maiming associated with the bizarre incident, it is either the suspect is not a good driver or he has problems with his mental health, or both. It is inconceivable that anyone in his right senses or who has basic training in driving would drive so recklessly on the ever busy Lagos road with a view to stealing a car he was test-driving. This is beyond comprehension and it would not be out of place to surmise that the suspect was mentally unstable or on drugs. And indeed the Lagos State Police Command has reportedly confirmed that the reckless driver has a psychiatric issue.

Even at that, perhaps the tragedy could have been averted if the motor dealer had carried out due diligence in the discharge of the duties associated with car sales, especially with respect to test-driving by an unknown potential buyer. For instance, why didn’t the auto dealer install tracking and demobilisation features in his vehicles in order to make it difficult for a car thief to steal his merchandise under the guise of test-driving? Again, why would motor dealers assume that every potential buyer knows how to drive? What stops auto sellers from requesting the valid driver’s licence of potential buyers who wish to test drive their vehicles and accompany them on the test drive, with routes mapped out securely? Interestingly, a man in the wake of this incident was reported to have complained that he had test-driven many vehicles and not once did the dealers ask him if he could drive. Auto dealers must do better. This is one reason insurers are always reluctant to pay claims in the event of adversarial occurrence because the insured/claimants are seen not to have exercised the duty of care that could have obviated losses.

The incident under reference is a very scary one; a mentally unstable person driving a stolen car recklessly, causing commotion, panic, hitting and damaging other motorists vehicles, and injuring many road users. Lagos roads are ordinarily very busy, especially at the peak hours in the mornings and evenings. Thus, having a reckless and suspected thief attempting to get away with a stolen car on one of such busy roads could only have resulted in a catastrophe. Who can imagine being on the road with a reckless criminal after stealing a vehicle on a road?

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We commend the police on the prompt arrest of the reckless driver/suspected thief. The matter should be thoroughly investigated to determine not just the attempted larceny but also probable culpable negligence on the part of the auto seller. The callousness, brazenness and the scope of damage caused by the potential auto buyer turned suspected thief are so huge that those who could have nipped the disaster in the bud but failed to do so deserve to be held to account. The suspect, too, should be made to go through a mental reevaluation, to determine the reason for his crazy adventure, especially in light of the auto dealer’s query of the police claim that the suspected thief is a mentally challenged.   Apparently, the mental state of the suspect impaired his sense of reasoning. However, the auto seller who, in the circumstances, may have to bear the consequences of the damages caused by the suspect deserves to be assured that the suspect has been truly confirmed as a psychiatric case, and that the claim is not just a ploy or contrivance to let him off the hook.

The family of the suspect may have to compensate the victims. They have a responsibility to ensure that their mentally sick relation is confined to a rehabilitation home, and not let loose to inconvenience or injure other people and damage their property. Meanwhile,  the auto dealer who was probably so absorbed by the potential profit to be made from the car sale that he threw caution to the wind and failed to institute or implement a commonsense mechanism that could have ensured that his car, the potential profit from sale and the lives and property of other people were not put in jeopardy, may have to bear his loss. It was a terrible case of carelessness and negligence.