The Nation Newspaper

Tag: the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC)

  • JUST IN: Why 12 died in Edo auto crash, by FRSC 

    JUST IN: Why 12 died in Edo auto crash, by FRSC 

    The Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Edo State, Cyril Matthew, has confirmed that twelve people lost their lives in a fatal auto crash attributed to driver fatigue. 

    Speaking in Benin on Sunday, Matthew explained that the accident occurred around 5 a.m. on Saturday at the Igueoviobo community, near an army checkpoint along the Benin-Ekpoma-Auchi Expressway. The crash involved a Toyota Hiace bus and a truck.

    He said: “The bus departed Zuba in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, and headed for Benin City, but collided with an oncoming truck en route Auchi, around 5 a.m.

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    “All the occupants of the bus were killed in the auto crash, which might have been caused by fatigue, with the driver likely to have dozed off, leading to the collision, and the bus was engulfed in flames, making it impossible to save the victims.

    “The truck’s driver and his assistant, fondly called ‘Motor Boy,’ escaped unhurt.

    “Officials of FRSC were able to identify the bodies through the vehicle’s manifest. We have since contacted their families.”

    The sector commander of FRSC in Edo also admonished drivers to avoid fatigue, especially while on long journeys, while urging them to stop and rest after driving for four hours and when they felt tired, to avoid unnecessary and preventable loss of lives of mostly innocent persons.

  • Nigeria’s ignoble record of traffic offenders

    Nigeria’s ignoble record of traffic offenders

    Sir: The rate of road traffic crashes, injuries and deaths is very high in Nigeria. The 2023 data released by the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) showed that about 5,000 people died in road traffic crashes. The report by the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that over 39,000 people died in road traffic crashes in 2023 in Nigeria. Although there is disparity between the figures released by FRSC and WHO but we know who is correct and who is wrong.

    This year, the FRSC released the data of traffic offenders and it was mind-blowing. The report revealed that the number of Road Traffic Offenders arrested in the year 2023 is 614,051.

    On the side of FRSC, the arrests are a record – breaking achievement. To me, I see the high figure of violators as a bad omen. It is clearly an evidence that too many people are either still ignorant of the road traffic regulations and road rules while some are stubbornly disobeying the traffic laws thereby presenting themselves as safety risks on the roads. Hence the persistently high rate of road traffic crashes, injuries and deaths on our roads. The higher the rate of road rules violation, the higher will be the rate of road traffic crashes.

    It is worrisome that over 80 per cent of the current holders of Nigeria Drivers Licence do not know all the provisions of the National Road Traffic Regulations and the Nigeria Highway Code. Over 70 per cent got their drivers licence without undergoing the full theoretical and practical training sessions in driving schools. What we see on the roads today are trial by errors driving which has been the root cause of the high rate of traffic law violations and crashes.

    The National Road Traffic Regulations (2012) clearly states that every driver (and rider) must undergo a minimum of nine hours of cumulative refresher training before the drivers licence can be renewed.  The compromise in the enforcement of this law has further worsened the level of knowledge, skills and attitudes of drivers thereby placing Nigeria as one of the countries with the highest rates of road traffic crashes and also among the worst countries to drive in.

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    The high rate of compromise and corruption in traffic law enforcement is also another major cause of the high rate of traffic law violations and crashes.

    The continuing loss of lives and properties on the road has a lot of viral effects on the country, GDP, communities, families and businesses among others.

    In order to quickly and effectively stem this disheartening tide, there is an urgent need for the federal, state and local governments,  ministries of works and transportation,  the FRSC as the lead agency in Road Safety Administration,  state government traffic agencies,  Directorate of Road Traffic Services (VIOs), driving schools, transport unions, NGOs and CSOs involved in road safety, Institute of Driving Instructors of Nigeria and other stakeholders in transportation and road safety to wake up to their responsibilities towards ensuring safer road infrastructures and  safer road users.

    •Jide Owatunmise, Lagos