A 55-year-old motorist escaped without injury on Friday after a moving train collided with his Honda car at the PWD railway crossing in Ikeja, Lagos, renewing concerns over inadequate safety measures and the dangerous practice of motorists and pedestrians attempting to cross railway tracks without ensuring it is safe to do so.
The collision involved a train travelling towards Agege and a Honda car with registration number EKY 902 JT. The impact left the vehicle extensively damaged, but no deaths were reported.
Please watch video of immediate aftermath below:
According to the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), its operatives, working with security personnel, rescued the driver and removed the wrecked vehicle from the railway track, allowing the train to continue its journey. The damaged car was subsequently handed over to security personnel for investigation, while traffic congestion persisted around the PWD axis.
Beyond the immediate incident, the collision has once again drawn attention to persistent safety concerns at railway level crossings, where road users and trains share the same corridor and a moment of impatience can have fatal consequences.
Missing barriers raise questions over government safety commitments
The latest accident has revived questions about the provision and maintenance of effective physical barriers at railway crossings, particularly at PWD, where previous collisions have prompted calls for stronger safety infrastructure.
Following a deadly train collision involving a Lagos State Government staff bus at the same crossing on March 9, 2023, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) outlined plans to separate road and rail traffic through overhead bridges and underpasses. The corporation also acknowledged that barriers installed at some crossings had been vandalised or damaged, complicating efforts to maintain effective protection for road users.
In subsequent reporting, the NRC explained that grade-separated crossings were being developed in phases, while temporary safety measures and human monitoring were expected to help manage locations where road and rail traffic still intersected.
However, continued collisions at PWD raise questions about whether the promised safeguards have been adequately delivered, maintained or enforced at the crossing. The recurrence of such incidents underscores the need for transparent updates from the relevant authorities.
The Lagos State Government and the railway authorities need to clarify what physical barriers, warning systems and other protective measures are currently in place, what remains outstanding, and when outstanding safety improvements will be completed.
Reckless crossing by motorists and pedestrians remains a major risk
While concerns about infrastructure are legitimate, road-user behaviour is also a critical part of the problem. Motorists who attempt to beat an approaching train, drive across the tracks without adequate clearance or manoeuvre around warnings expose themselves and other people to potentially catastrophic consequences.
Pedestrians who walk across railway tracks while a train is approaching, or who treat the railway corridor as an ordinary footpath, face similar dangers. The urgency of crossing to save a few seconds cannot justify the risk of being struck by a moving train.
A train cannot stop as quickly as a car, and drivers or pedestrians who misjudge its speed and distance may have little or no time to escape once they enter its path. Road users must therefore wait until the crossing is confirmed safe and obey all instructions from railway personnel and authorised traffic officials.
The danger is not merely theoretical. On October 16, 2025, a dispatch rider died after colliding with a moving train at the PWD railway level crossing. Radio Nigeria Lagos reported that preliminary investigations indicated the rider had attempted to manoeuvre across the track at speed to access the Ikeja GRA area.
The fatal incident, followed by the latest collision involving a car, demonstrates the continuing danger at the location and the need for both stronger infrastructure and stricter compliance with railway safety rules.
A deadly history that demands action
The PWD crossing was also the scene of the March 2023 collision between a moving train and a Lagos State Government staff bus. According to a subsequent statement by the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, the accident claimed six lives and left about 96 people with injuries of varying degrees.
The tragedy prompted renewed public demands for better railway-crossing protection and stronger separation of road and rail traffic. In March 2023, the NRC said it was pursuing plans for overhead bridges and underpasses at multiple Lagos level crossings to reduce the risk of collisions.
The recurrence of accidents at PWD raises an important question: how many more incidents must occur before the necessary combination of reliable barriers, effective warnings, enforcement and safer crossing infrastructure is in place?
Authorities urged to match warnings with preventive action
LASTMA General Manager, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, commended the agency’s operatives and security personnel for their prompt response to the latest collision. He stressed the importance of inter-agency cooperation, situational awareness and rapid emergency intervention in managing incidents involving trains and adjoining roads.
Bakare-Oki also urged motorists to exercise caution around railway crossings and warned against attempting to cross when a train was approaching or already in motion.
Analysts note that while such warnings are necessary, public appeals alone cannot substitute for adequate safety infrastructure and consistent enforcement. Authorities responsible for railway operations, transport management and road infrastructure must work together to ensure that crossings are clearly marked, warning systems function properly, barriers are provided where required and dangerous crossing practices are deterred.
The relevant agencies should also intensify public education targeting commercial drivers, private motorists, dispatch riders and pedestrians, while enforcing restrictions against unauthorised crossing of railway tracks.
The latest incident ended without a reported fatality, but the extensive damage to the Honda car serves as another warning of the consequences of unsafe interaction between road and rail traffic.
Preventing the next collision requires shared responsibility: government must deliver and maintain promised safety measures, railway authorities must ensure effective crossing protection, and motorists and pedestrians must stop taking dangerous chances around moving trains. Human life should not depend on luck at a railway crossing.