Abuja- The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) said enforcement of traffic rules and collaboration among the regulators reduced road crashes by 45 per cent during the recent Christmas celebration.
The FRSC Public Education Officer, Corps Commander Imoh Etuk, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday.
“Efforts of FRSC to reduce road crashes in the country to the barest minimum have been yielding positive results due to sensitisation, strict enforcement of road traffic rules and cooperation with sister agencies.
“Mobile courts for traffic violations have been sitting since Dec.19 to prosecute offenders.
“Also, regular and special marshals with various equipment such as radar guns, alcholyser and tow trucks have been deployed across the country to ensure road orderliness.
“Statistics of road crashes during this period in 2013 and 2014 have shown that ongoing efforts have been greatly effective.
“In 2013 there were 113 fatal accidents; 225 serious accidents and 30 minor accidents compared to 62, 115 and 15, respectively recorded in 2014.
“It shows 45 per cent, 49 per cent and 50 per cent reduction in the number of fatal, serious and minor accidents respectively, during the years under review.
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“Also, 155 male adults, 33 female adults and 20 children died of road accident during this period (Dec.19 to 28) in 2013 compared to 96 male adults, 17 female adults and 7 children that died in 2014.
“This is 38 per cent, 48 per cent and 65 per cent reduction in number of male, female and child mortalities in road accidents during this period.
“This shows that FRSC is getting positive response to its efforts to reduce road crashes in the country, also a testimony to increase cooperation between our commission and sister services,” Etuk said.
He commended the Nigerian Air Force for the smooth running of the recent aerial surveillance of road corridors which was launched by Mr Boboye Oyeyemi, Corps Marshal of the commission.
He said the surveillance had immensely helped in identifying problems on critical road corridors in the country, especially during the yuletide.
The FRSC official urged road users to obey traffic rules especially during festive periods.
He also commended the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and other road users for cooperating with the commission.(NAN)
