5,596 lives lost in road crashes, FRSC says

In from Ali Smart…

Worried at the rate at which the nation’s human capital is being wasted through avoidable road accidents, the Federal Roads Safety Corp (FRSC) has again emphasised the need for drivers, especially tanker drivers to imbibe safety measures on the road to reduce the number and level of accidents and save lives.
The call became necessary seeing that at least 5,596 people died last year in the country from road crashes, while 32,089 suffered injuries and 16, 779 vehicles were involved.
This was made known by the Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Boboye Oyeyemi while impressing on the Independent Petroleum Marketers, the need to upgrade their safety standards in line with global best practice.

Oyeyemi stated this during a presentation at the Transport Service Providers’ Training Workshop held in Lagos on Saturday.

In a statement issued on behalf of the Corp Marshal by Bisi Kazeem, Head, Media Relations and Strategy, the Corps Marshal observed that Nigeria has reached a stage where all stakeholders must take issues of road safety serious by observing the safety standards set to guarantee safety of lives and property.

Oyeyemi therefore called on stakeholders to come together to demonstrate commitment to issues of road safety by adopting scientific safety measures in their operations. “It is unprecedented in the history of this country that the number of tanker/trailer crashes as well as casualties that were recorded this year ever happened,” he stated.

“In June 2015, we recorded 16 crashes involving tankers/trailers, while that of Onitsha alone claimed 49 lives.

“The other crashes that occurred in Lagos and other parts of the country not only claimed precious lives, but destroyed houses and vehicles in the inferno that threw the entire nation into state of mourning,” he added.

Giving an overview of the crash situation globally, Oyeyemi disclosed that 1.3 million people die annually from road crashes, while 50 million suffer various degree of injuries with Nigeria accounting for 10, 380 of the crashes in 2014.

“5,596 people died last year in the country from road crashes, while 32,089 suffered injuries and 16, 779 vehicles were involved,” he further stated.

Expressing the concern of the FRSC with the social and economic losses from the crashes, most of which he said could have been avoided, with right attitudes and commitment to issues of road safety, the Corps Marshal commended the Major Petroleum Marketers in the country for taking issues of safety serious in their operations, pointing out that the various safety measures they have taken to avert tanker crashes, especially fuel spillage through the use of “Safety Valves” has paid off.

“The use of Safety Valves in tankers ensures that even if a crash occurs, the fuel would not spill on the ground to cause further havoc,” he said.

Speaking on the policy measures put in place by the FRSC to avoid crashes involving haulage vehicles, Oyeyemi stated that Road Transport Safety Standardisation Scheme (RTSSS), which the Corps launched in 2007 was aimed at creating safe environment for fleet operators.

He further stressed that the FRSC organised the National Summit on haulage operation early in the year in furtherance of its consultation with the relevant stakeholders who identified the need for enforcement, retraining and recertification of tanker/trailer drivers as antidotes to the perennial tanker crashes.

“We launched Operation Scorpion in July specifically against the truck and trailer drivers who indulge in the contravention of traffic rules and regulations leading to the prosecution of some of the offenders at the Mobile Courts. “We deployed 3,000 of our personnel for that operation which we flagged off in Lagos,” he stated.

“During the first phase of the operation, 2,261 trailer and truck drivers were arrested with 32,089 offences out of which over 1,000 of the those apprehended were prosecuted at the Mobile Courts,” Oyeyemi stated.

“Every Major Petroleum Marketer must endeavour to key into the Road Transport Standardisation Scheme of the FRSC and ensure that their drivers are subjected to regular training and retraining programmes to improve their knowledge of modern driving techniques.

“This has become imperative in view of the need to keep our roads free of carnage while the government is working assiduously to revitalise the railway system in the country,” Oyeyemi submitted.

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