The Nation Newspaper

Tag: road crashes

  • Two dead, six injured in road crashes

    Two dead, six injured in road crashes

    Two persons have been killed in a multiple accident on Sunday.

    Six others injured in other road crashes at the weekend.

    Two of the accidents happened at Church Bus Stop near Ijeshatedo Bus Stop, on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway on Saturday. The third was at Ilasamaja Bus stop near a Police Station.

    Nobody died in the Saturday crash but three were injured, according to eyewitnesses.

    “Nobody died but three were injured. It (accident) happened at this spot (Church Bus Stop). Two vehicles hit each other,” said a witness in a security uniform.

    The Nation saw a man hit by a tyre that pulled off a mobile passenger bus (Danfo) near Ijeshatedo Bus Stop on Sunday.

    The man was about crossing the expressway when he was hit.

    Passengers immediately disembarked, yelling at the driver for speeding.

    A truck marked LEW 507 XA hit a Toyota Camry marked LND 650 CN and another car at Ilasamaja.

    According to a Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) official, the accident occurred around 4am.

    The truck, he said, hit two cars, killing two occupants in one of the cars.

    “We were called by the officers at the Police Station in Ilasamaja that an accident occurred and it had blocked vehicular movement along the expressway. On getting there, we saw a truck that had already crushed two cars. The damage was beyond repair,” he said.

    According to him, the owner of the car was not inside when the accident occurred.

    “Some people told us that the truck driver had hit someone at Anthony Bus Stop earlier on before killing two people at Ilasamaja. He ran away immediately the accident occurred,” he said.

    According to an eyewitness, the two cars stopped to help another accident victim when a truck driver rammed into them, killing two people instantly.

    The cars were pushed to the roadside; the truck was towed to LASTMA office in Oshodi.

  • Five killed in multiple road crashes

    Five killed in multiple road crashes

    Five persons were killed and several others injured yesterday in multiple crashes on the Lagos/Abeokuta Expressway.

    Properties worth millions of naira were also destroyed in the accidents which occurred near the former toll gate close to Sango-Ota in Ogun State.

    Ota Unit Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Leye Adegboyega appealed to motorists to be disciplined while on the wheel.

    According to Adegboyega, the crashes occurred at midnight and at 6.40am.

    The first crash involved a Lafarge trailer, loaded with cement. The brake failed and the driver rammed into other vehicles, some of which plunged into the stream. The five died in the crash.

    The vehicles are a Toyota Hillux marked BDJ413XA, two Ford buses registered FST75XA and AAA688XA, two Volkswagen buses with number-plates APP827XF and EKY488XM, and a Mazda car marked SMK892CB.

    The accidents attracted some commercial drivers and miscreants, who went on the rampage, damaging articulated vehicles mostly Dangote trucks and trailers. They also attacked the rescue teams in anger.

    The injured were taken to Ota General Hospital. The victims’ bodies were deposited in the hospital’s morgue.

    Adegboyega said some valuable documents including cash were recovered from the scene.

    They are N54,970 cash, four handsets (one blackberry, two Nokia, one Alcatel), a bunch of keys and a purse containing Mr Oloyede Tunde’s driver’s license.

    The second crash involving eight vehicles, Adegboyega said, occurred at 6.40am.

    It was also caused by brake failure. The vehicles were Mitsubushi Station Wagon marked with KTU824DS, Toyota Corolla Car, AKD221BQ, Iveco truck, KRD215XB, Volkswagen buses, AAA955XJ and BDG886XE, Honda Accord car LND525BF, two Toyota Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) LSD989CQ and  EKY45CV

    Adegboyega urged cement firms to train and retrain their drivers.

     

  • Ember-months’ road crashes not spiritual, says Amosun

    Ember-months’ road crashes not spiritual, says Amosun

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun has urged motorists to stop the erroneous belief that road crashed in the “ember” months are spiritual or the result of evil spirits working during the season.

    The governor urged motorists to understand that there are usually increased economic activities, making people to speed, in the last quarter of the year.

    Amosun, who was represented by his deputy, Mrs. Yetunde Onanuga, spoke at the Ita-Oshin Motor Park in Abeokuta, the state capital, at the beginning of “Ember-months’ Safety Campaign.

    The governor noted that the last four months of the year, popularly called the “Ember-months”, usually witnessed an upsurge in vehicle movements and the number of travellers.

    Accompanied by Acting Corps Commander of the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE), Commander Seni Ogunyemi and the General Manager of the State Parks and Garages, Alhaji Ola Ayo Ogunsolu, the governor stressed that road users should always show the highest sense of discipline and avoid any act that could violate traffic rules.

    He warned drivers to desist from speeding, overload, wrong overtaking, use of phones while driving, drunken-driving and other traffic offences.

    Amosun said any motorist caught driving against the traffic would be taken to Aro Psychiatric in Abeokuta for a psychiatric test.

    The governor advised drivers and passengers to always fasten their safety belts, adding that this would reduce accidents and fatality rate during road crashes.

    He added that the objective of his administration’s safety campaign was to reduce road crashes.

    The Chairman of the Road Transport Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Alhaji Owotade Monsuru, and his National Union Road Transport Worker (NURTW) counterpar, Alhaji Adetunji Odunifa, thanked the governor for organising the campaign.

    They said it would further reducing accidents during the “ember-months”.

     

  • ‘500 kids killed in road crashes daily’

    The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has urged school bus drivers to be safety conscious and make the roads safe for users, especially pupils.

    At the third United Nations Road Safety Week, which ended last Sunday, the agency said it was worrisome that 500 children are killed daily globally.

    Speaking on the theme: “Children and road safety” at the Ogun State Sector Command headquarters in Abeokuta, the Sector Commander, Adegoke Adetunji, said the growing rate of child fatalities informed the UN’s directive to organise a child road safety week to draw attention to the need to keep the roads safe for children. The event, he noted, was organised across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    It was also a part of the UN’s decade of action on road safety, which mandated all member-nation to reduce the rate of road traffic crashes (RTC) as well as fatalities to 20 percent by year 2020.

    Adetunji said the one-week campaign was to enlighten the public on the need to consider children’s safety on roads.

    He said: “Children are the leaders of tomorrow and the future of a nation. Thousands of them are being killed and deformed on the roads around the world every day, because of what the elderly ones do or fail to do when they are behind the wheels.”

    A nation that desires a better future must protect its children, he said, adding that there is need for road discipline for children’s sake.

    He said road indiscipline exposes children to dangers and many children may not have the chance to grow old as they may be involved in fatal accident.

    He appealed to parents, drivers and mototcyclists to be safety conscious whenever they are driving close to school premises or wherever children can easily be found, so that the roads can be made safe for them.

    Adegoke urged parents to consider children’s safety while travelling, saying it is wrong to allow children between ages one and 12 months to sit in front of a car.

    “Most parents/drivers allow minors to sit in front of a vehicle; this is abnormal and very bad. Such a parent, he said is exposing the child to a grave danger in case of any crashes. He noted that parents must always use a baby car seat for their minors, for him/her to be adequately protected in case of any crash because children are more prone to injuries or being killed whenever accident occur on the road.”

    “Parents should stop putting their children on the lap or chest while driving; this, he said, is the easiest way of exposing children to crashes. It is better for a child to cry than sending him/her to an early grave,” Adegoke said.

    The FRSC boss urged parents to always use the safety lock when on motion and restrain them from playing with it. “Children are innocent, they don’t know anything, but it is the duty of the parents to protect them against dangers,” he added.

    He appealed to Nigeria Union of Teachers to assist in spreading this children road safety proclamation among the pupils, parents and the public.

    Adegoke urged school proprietors to comply with the new school bus designs as approved by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).

    He advised parents/guardians and school owners to always ensure the safety of their children/wards from home to school and back, urging them to avoid putting their children on okada.

    He also warned the parents against the use of pick-up vans to convey children to school, imploring proprietors to comply with the guidelines to avoid arrest when enforcement begins.

  • How to stem road crashes, by FRSC chief

    How to stem road crashes, by FRSC chief

    HOW can the high rate of road accidents be stemmed? It is by ensuring that only tested motorists are behind the wheels, says the Lagos Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Hyginus Omeje.

    During a visit to the Ikeja Unit Command of the corps, Omeje noted that many vehicles that were not supposed to be on the road are found, manned by drivers using fake licence.

    He urged motorists to follow due process in obtaining the licence adding that accidents will reduce if motorists adhere strictly to the rules.

    Omeje maintained that the rate of accidents involving inexperienced drivers with fake licences is becoming worrisome.

    These unscrupulous motorists with little knowledge of the road obtain fake licence through touts, who charge them more than the normal fee, he said.

    The commission, he said, is committed to ending incessant accidents leading to the loss of lives and properties which are caused by inexperienced drivers.

    Omeje said short circuiting the process, would deny motorists the exposure to practical and theoretical tests before being given their driver’s licence.

    “Some of these drivers lack adequate knowledge guiding driving on the highways, including the traffic rules and regulations,” he said.

    Omeje however said there have been improved compliance to the procurement of licences at all the FRSC offices in Lagos by motorists, adding that the idea of sending proxies to procure it is abating.

    “More motorists are realising that the agency means business when we said it is an offence for anyone to obtain driver’s licence by proxy because it will be fake and anyone caught driving with fake or without a driver’s licence is risking imprisonment.”

    He debunked the claim that the licensing process is slow, accusing those behind such campaigns of believing in cutting corner to get things done.

    Omeje said the Command produced over 5,040 driver’s licence in January, appealing to motorists to follow due process in order to obtain the original document.

    He warned both Regular and Special Marshals to desist from collecting money from people to help them procure driver’s licence, saying any officer caught would be dismissed and prosecuted.

    The Ikeja Unit Commander, Mr Olawale Odekunle, said tough time awaits erring drivers as anyone caught would be sanctioned.

    The command, he said, is partnering with other agencies to end traffic congestion and lawlessness in the state.

  • Four die in Niger road crashes

    Four persons, comprising two soldiers and two civilians, died on Friday and yesterday in two road crashes on the Mokwa-Bida Road in Niger State.

    The two soldiers died in the first accident when a trailer hit a New Bussa-bound Army Hilux pick-up at Labojin village, about 43 kilometres from Mokwa town at 7.30pm. Two other soldiers were injured in the vehicle.

    An eyewitness said the victims, comprising the driver and the soldier beside him, died on the spot.

    It was learnt that officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) arrived promptly at the accident scene while the villagers evacuated the injured to Mokwa General Hospital.

    The accident was said to be so severe that it took hours to remove the bodies of the dead from the wreckage.

    The villagers arrested the driver of the trailer and handed him over to the police.

    Two people also died yesterday in a head-on collision between a petrol tanker and a truck conveying water melon on the same road in Mokwa town.

    The driver of the Mitsubishi truck, which was carrying water melon and the owner of the consignment died in the accident.

    The FRSC Sector Commander for Mokwa, Mr Adedoyin Adeyinka, confirmed the accidents in a telephone chat with our reporter.

    He said the Friday accident involved military personnel and a trailer.

    Adeyinka said: “We spent hours trying to separate the bodies of the two soldiers from the mangled vehicle. The injured officers were rushed to Mokwa General Hospital and are responding to treatment.

    “In the second accident, a head-on collision occurred today (Sunday) involving a water melon truck and a petrol tanker. The truck driver and the person beside him died on the spot. Their bodies were conveyed to Mokwa General Hospital.

    “We had a hectic time trying to stop people from scooping the fuel on the accident scene to avoid further loss of lives. It was with the help of the police.”

    The FRSC chief advised motorists to be cautious when they ply the route because of the bad state of the road.