Road Crashes: Corps Marshal advocates appropriate traffic management capacity

Mr Boboye Oyeyemi, Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says appropriate management capacity in road traffic is imperative in reducing road crashes in the country.

Oyeyemi stated this in the agency’s Road Traffic Crash (RTC) Report for February, 2019, signed by him and made available to our reporter in Abuja, on Wednesday.

He said that deaths and injuries that resulted from road traffic crashes remained serious heart-breaking statistics globally.

“Reducing road traffic crashes therefore, requires appropriate management capacity demonstrated through availability of comprehensive and reliable data systems on the burden and risks of crashes,” he said.

The corps marshal also said that reducing the scourge also required sustainable funding to measure, target and monitor progress.

The report showed that in February, 396 persons died while 2, 354 others sustained various degrees of injury across the country.

“In the month under review, a total of 716 crash cases occurred, involving 5, 021 persons.

“The statistics indicate 27 per cent decrease in fatality, 25 per cent decrease in crashes and 30 per cent decrease in the number of people injured during the period when compared to the preceding month of January,” he explained.

He identified Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as the highest crash-prone route recording 42 crashes.

According to him, this was followed by Kaduna-Abuja with 33 crashes, Abuja-Lokoja with 31, Kaduna-Zaria with 12 and Lagos-Abeokuta with 10 crashes.

Oyeyemi said that speed violation accounted for the highest causal factor of road traffic crashes, with 393 cases representing 51.5 per cent within the period.

“Commercial vehicles constituted 63.5 per cent of the total vehicles in crashes in February, while private and government vehicles accounted for 3.4 per cent and 1.7 per cent, respectively,” he said.

He said that the crash analysis was intended to stimulate actions toward improving road safety in the country through the identification of key gaps and opportunities.

This, he said, was with a view to establishing an assessment of progress toward the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020).

The FRSC boss stated that the report was also intended to serve as an advocacy tool to generate further political action and resources to guide implementation, with the support of relevant government actors and stakeholders.

He appealed to the media to sensitise motorists to the risk of over-speeding as well as the need to install Speed Limit Device and adherence to traffic laws in the country.