Port Harcourt- The Manager, Production, Port Harcourt Refinery, Eleme, Mr Abel Imonighawhare, on Friday urged petroleum tanker drivers to see life as an irreplaceable jewel and be cautious while driving.
Imonighawhare, who represented the Refinery’s Managing Director, Mr B.A. Enjugu, made the remark during the 2014 Ember Months Road Users Enlightenment Campaign at the tanker drivers’ park, Eleme.
The campaign was organised by the refinery in conjunction with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
He noted complaints of the tanker drivers on bad roads and other road users’ attitude but told them that they could avoid accidents in spite of the problems if they were careful.
”Remember your nuclear families; nobody can take care of them well if you are dead.
‘‘If you keep the rules and regulations on the road, there would be no accident.
”When you get to a bad road, drive slowly, if you see other road users, take it easy with them,” the manager said.
The Rivers state Sector Commander of FRSC, Mr Sunday Oghenekaro, identified three major causes of road traffic crashes as human, mechanical and environmental factors.
Oghenekaro, represented by the Deputy Commander in charge of the Sector Head of Operations, Mrs Rita Monye, said that out of the three, human element accounted for 90per cent of the road crashes.
”It is a fact that road traffic crashes are caused and do not just happen; if this is true, the major causative factor is man.
”Therefore the human beings must be concentrated on, especially during ember months, to imbibe safety habits and lane discipline to make the roads safer,” he said.
Oghenekaro said that the purpose of the campaign was lane discipline which he described as ”one of the keys to success in any human endeavor.”
He said that drivers must adhere to the traffic rules in order to reduce the rate of accidents on the road.
In his speech earlier, Mr Innocent Nwabueze, Manager, Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Port Harcourt Refinery, reminded the tanker drivers that the products they carry were very inflammable.
Nwabueze said that it was because of the nature of their haulage that they were chosen for the enlightenment campaign.
He said that the nature of ember months always attracted rush and any mistake in safety could stop the victim from seeing the following year.
”You should learn how to drive well and safely too so that many lives will be saved,” he said.
The Eleme Unit Commander of FRSC, Mr Onwuka Amogu, attributed rough driving to attitudinal problem, adding that dangerous overtaking, drunkenness and disobedience to driving rules could amount to road crashes. (NAN)
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