Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Gives A detailed Estimate Of Road Crashes In The Last Eight Months

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on Wednesday said 331 persons lost their lives as a result road crashes in the last eight months in Benue, Plateau and Nasarawa States.

This was disclosed by the Corps Marshall and Chief Executive of the Corps, Boboye Oyeyemi at the flag off of the 2016 “Ember Months Campaign and Sensitisation on the Speed Limiting Device” in Jos.

Oyeyemi who was represented by Deputy Corps Marshall in charge of operations, Adai Abu, noted that the Jos Zone which comprises the three aforementioned States was marked as accident prone zone.

”The Jos zone is one of the areas that is known nationwide for its high rate of road traffic crashes.

”In 2015, we recorded 905 road traffic crashes with 279 fatalities.

”When you compare the figures, you will realise that while the number of crashes in 2015 was high, the rate of deaths was low, whereas the number of deaths is high in 2016 with low crashes,” he said.

Oyeyemi attributed the cause of the crashes to human error, hence the need to curb the reoccurrence of the ugly trend becomes necessary.

He added that speeding constitutes 60% of the cause of accidents on the nation’s highways, hence the need for drivers to install speed limiting device in their vehicles.

He warned against speeding, wrongful and dangerous overtaking, overloading, use of phone while driving and ensure lane discipline and respect for traffic regulations.

”So, the rationale for the annual launch of the ember months campaigns is to remind ourselves on the number of salient issues and guides for safe road use,” he added.

He urged parents and guardians to discourage, underage, reckless and drunk driving, and to ensure the use of quality tyres on their vehicles.

In his welcome address, the Zonal Commanding Officer of the zone, Oludare Fadogba, said some black spots areas within the zone have been identified.

Fadogba added that, officers of the corps would be stationed at the black spot areas all through the ember months to ensure safety of people on the highways.

He called on motorists plying the roads within the zone to cooperate with FRSC personnel so as to get rid of accidents on the highways.