SECURITY ALERT WITH JIDE

Accidents On Our Roads.

Despite warnings to motorists and commuter bus drivers by the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, to drive cautiously and observe traffic rules in this festive season, we still have some road users driving recklessly and causing accidents on the roads.

Hardly does a day passes in these ‘ember’ months September to December without one or two accidents being reported.

On the first day of December, about 14 people lost their lives along the Lagos-Ibadan expressroad when a truck rammed into an inter-state commuter bus going to Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.

While some blamed the accident on overspeeding by the truck driver, others blamed it on an illegal checkpoint mounted on the road by policemen.

As if this was not enough, about 15 people lost their lives the following day in a carnage which resulted from the carelessness of an oil tanker driver which overturned on the Lagos-Badagry expressway near Alakija Bus Stop.

The accident resulted in a huge inferno which led to the roasting of commuters in their vehicles.
Apart from these instances, ghastly accidents resulting in the death of commuters are reported almost daily along the major highways in the country.

These accidents still occur despite efforts by officials of FRSC to reduce the incidents at this period.

Just yesterday, a commuter bus nearly plunge into the Lagos Lagoon on the Third Mainland bridge. Two commuters in the bus were, however, not so lucky as they were flung into the lagoon when the bus hit the railings. One of them was later brought out dead by divers.

Many able-bodied Nigerians that could have contributed to the prosperity of the country have died as a result of needless accidents on our roads caused by insensitivity of drivers.

There is need to put a halt to these.

We cannot overemphasize the importance of driving safely in this festive season.

Too many lives have been lost already and there is the need to prevent further loss of lives.

‘Ember’ months have been described by the FRSC as a period when there is an increase in the movement of goods and people from one place to another.

People are moving from one place to the other either to celebrate the festivals which fall within the period when people visit their families or reunite with their loved ones.

We are joining the FRSC to appeal to motorists and commuter bus drivers to drive with caution and obey traffic rules. They should avoid overspeeding and ensure that they check their vehicles before travelling.

As they say, life has no duplicate and the expressways are not race tracks. Drivers should not drink and drive or make or receive phone calls while driving.

These have been identified as some of the causes of accidents on our roads.

There is also the need for drivers to be aware that the majority of of our roads are in deplorable conditions and any slight mistate could result in ghastly accidents.

Inter-state commuter bus drivers should, as much as possible, avoid night travelling, overloading and overspeeding.

We are also appealing to the government to regulate the movement of tanker drivers on the highways.

A specific period of the day can be set aside for their movement.

Stakeholders can also organise enlightenment programmes for them to sensitise them on the need to drive with caution on the roads.

They should learn to obey traffic rules and regulations.

We also want to implore the government to deploy more traffic officials and policemen to the roads to check overspeeding and drunkenness by drivers.

Like the officials of FRSC have continuously emphasised, there are no devils on the road, rather it is the recklesness of drivers that kills.

Life is precious and everything should be done to preserve it. As the year is coming to an end, we are calling on road users to exercise caution and drive safely.

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FRSC confirms 472 deaths in road crashes.

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on Monday confirmed the death of 472 persons in more than 500 road accidents in different parts of the country in December 2010.

Corps Marshall of the FRSC, Osita Chidoka made the confirmation in Lokoja while reviewing the activities of the commission in the last month of 2010.

He said the commission would come up with the state-by-state statistics of road accidents in the period, saying that the three states with the lowest number of crashes would be rewarded.

Chidoka described the activities of the commission in the last three months of 2010 as successful, saying that the number of deaths and accidents recorded was low when compared with December 2009.

He commended the police, the civil defence corps and the Nigeria Air Force for collaborating with the FRSC to reduce the carnage on the nation’s highways, saying that the introduction of aerial survey was helpful.

According to him, the aerial survey helped the commission to respond quickly to issues and in the deployment of resources to critical areas of need.

Chidoka, who was in Lokoja to monitor the flow of traffic on the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja road, said the commission would further mobilise resources toward reducing road crashes.

He commended the media and other stakeholders for their support but said that a lot still needed to be done in the effort to change the attitude of drivers and other road users.

The Corp Marshall was accompanied by the Zonal Commander of the FRSC, Austin Aipoh, Kayode Olagunju and the Kogi Sector Commander, Sunday Maku.