the Federal Road Safety Commission, Standard Organisation of Nigeria and other relevant agencies have concluded plans to reduce accidents on the roads beginning from April 2016.
Speaking during the corps mega rally on road safety campaign on Friday at Itam Central Park, Corps Marshal and Chief Executive Officer, FRSC, Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi, who was represented by Deputy Corps Marshal, Adei Abu, stated that road safety had become a huge multi-sectoral issue.
Oyeyemi said the rally was important, judging from the fact that the country had the largest road network in West Africa and second largest in sub-Saharan African.
He added that three per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product was lost annually to road crashes.
“In 2014 alone, Nigeria lost N1.7tn, an equivalent of $10bn, to road traffic crashes. This is simply huge and unacceptable for a country where poverty incidence is still high.
“Between 1960, at independence, and the third quarter of 2015, Nigeria has recorded 344,367 road accident-related deaths with most of the dead being within the productive age. The Akwa Ibom rally is therefore one of the means aimed at reversing the trend,” he said.
Oyeyemi added that the efforts of the corps in 2014 resulted in the reduction by 42 per cent in road traffic crashes nationwide, which means a reduction from a total of 760 road crashes in 2013 to 439 in 2014.
He stated that the efforts of the corps recorded 49 per cent reduction in deaths from road crashes, where 257 deaths were recorded in 2014 compared to 504 in 2013.
He said the corps headquarters 2015 ‘Ember months’ special patrol with the theme: driving safely into 2016, was designed to consolidate on the success recorded in 2014.
Oyeyemi lamented the spate of increase in road crashes, saying that it was largely associated with speed limit violation.
0 comments :
Post a Comment