Ember months: We are focusing on re-educating passengers — FRSC

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says it will focus on re-educating passengers on their rights to avoid road crashes.

The Sector Commander of FRSC, Mr Muftau Irekeola, disclosed this during a news conference on the 2024 Ember Months campaign in Ilorin on Tuesday.

It was reported that the theme of the campaign was “Speak up against dangerous driving: Crashes kill more passengers than drivers”.

Irekeola said that during ember months, roads usually experienced heavy traffic, congestion, road crashes and regrettably loss of lives and properties due to extensive driving across the country.

He explained that various factors contributed to road crashes, such as driver’s behaviour and passengers’ indifference to reckless driving.

“The agreement between driver and passenger should be clear, that is, the driver must ensure that passengers reaches their destinations safely.

“Passengers have a right not to be injured, killed, harassed or have their rights violated,” Irekeola said.

The sector commander disclosed that commanding officers had been directed to actively engage commuters to ensure familiarity with safety regulations, to report reckless driving, use of seat belt and to support responsible driving.

“FRSC will be committed to its responsibility of educating all road users. By empowering passengers with the right knowledge, road traffic crashes, injuries and fatalities will reduce.

“We have raised our public education strategy, introduced new approaches such as, mega town hall meetings, motorcades, transit, rest areas and loading bays advocacy.

“This is to engage passengers and encourage them to assert their rights, thereby curbing drivers excesses, because it is on record that more passengers are killed in road crashes than drivers.

“Hence, there is the need for passengers to take up the responsibility of being more vigilant while in transit,” he said.