Oladipupo Awojobi 
…says FRSC working to reduce accidents during festive season
Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Corps Marshal, Mr. Oyeyemi Boboye, has revealed that the figures of crashes on Nigerian roads were not so frightening compared to what used to happen in the past. Boboye, who was speaking as a guest on Channel Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday, which was monitored by Saturday Telegraph, stated that the FRSC was adequately prepared for the Yuletide, and called on road users to obey traffic rules and regulations. He said: “Nigerian figure is not so frightening when you consider the number of people that die in road accidents in the past but we need to consider what happens on our roads from 12 midnight to about 5am.
“Most of the crises on our roads occur between midnight and 4:30 am. We found out that we cannot reduce the rate at which people move at night, we can only offer advice because of so many factors. “The critical issue has to do with the violations by the trailers that carry cattle, who now put human beings on top of the trailers leading to overload.
“The body setting cannot cope with this and fatigue sets in and they cannot control vehicles. “We were able to talk to the Sultan of Sokoto, the governor of Sokoto and Kebbi States, and even Zamfara, so that religious leaders could talk to them and we got results.
“The thing is that we still need to do more to have a permanent solution in respect to this excessive loading and movement at night. “I must tell you that there are more crises in recent times on Lagos-Abuja Road, Kano and the rest with regards to this.
“But if you look at all these, we can have collective efforts to ensure compliance with traffic rules. “For the festive period, I think we have done well by meeting with all the stakeholders. We have been ensuring that the roads are free of obstructions. “We have been able to meet the stakeholders. With the interactions that we have now and public awareness, I believe we are going to have something better than what we had last yea.r “What is required is the support of the road users to comply with the traffic rules and regulations.” The Corps Marshall said further that private drivers, who he said are not used to driving on the highway, are more involved in accidents during festive periods, saying that there is a difference between urban driving and highway driving. Many families, he said, have experienced crises because they don’t have the experience of how to drive on the highway.
“After 20 kilometres, fatigue sets in and distraction comes in. So, more or less, I will continue to advocate for caution with respect to road users. “All commercial bus drivers must have speed limit devices stored, 50% of road crises are speed related. “The commercial bus drivers carry about 10 or 15 passengers; the luxurious buses carry about 45 to 50 passengers. “So, we focus more on the commercial and luxurious buses because a lot of people are involved. “We also discovered that a lot of these drivers drive under the influence of drugs, and alcohol. So we need a lot of co-operation on the part of the road users,” he said.
