212 people were killed and 1,132 were injured in 334 road crashes between January and July 2022, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Niger state Sector Commander, Kumar Tsukwam has disclosed.
Tsukwam said 2,168 people and 439 vehicles were involved in these road crashes across the state while lamenting that there is an 8.4 per cent increase in the road crash rate within the same period last year.
The Sector Commander, who spoke during a courtesy visit to the Executives of the Niger state chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Minna, said the major causes of the road crashes include overspeeding, tyre bursts, use of phone while driving, fatigue, overloading, route violation and wrongful overtaking.
“Between January to July 2021, there were 308 road traffic crashes with 1,901 people and 461 vehicles involved, 229 people killed and 1,055 people were injured.
“Between January to July 2022, 334 road traffic crashes were recorded which showed an 8.8 per cent increase, 212 people were involved which showed a 7.8 per cent decrease, 2,168npeople were involved which showed a 14 per cent increase while 1,132 people were injured which showed 7.3 per cent increase from last year”, he said.
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Tsukwam said since his resumption in the state, he has been working towards ensuring that the indices of road crashes are reduced in the state by increasing the level of public awareness and education to all stakeholders adding that the sensitization has been extended to schools.
He said that after meeting with stakeholders and traditional rulers, the installation of speed limital in commercial vehicles would soon commence in the state adding that this would go a long way to reducing road traffic crashes.
The Sector Commander seek the collaboration of the media to help the Agency achieve its advocacy and sensitization towards a zero-free crash rate across the state.