By Christian Ogbonna
Yenagoa – The Bayelsa Chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) on Wednesday pledged to ensure members’ compliance with the installation of the speed limit device.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that enforcement of usage of the device will commence on Oct. 1 with commercial drivers across the country.
The union’s chairman, Mr ThankGod Eribo, who spoke with NAN in Yenagoa, said the device was a welcome development.
“The initiative is as important as the engine of a vehicle, especially to our members, who are the major users of the road; this is what we have been expecting from the Federal Road Safety Commission.
“We will comply with the initiative because the belief of someone on the wheel is to start a journey and arrive at a safe destination.
“Since it is a safety precaution to reduce crashes, we will give 100 per cent compliance.”
The chairman appealed to the FRSC to make the price affordable due to the present harsh economic situation in the country.
“The enforcement date is timely; I urge the authority to also extend the date as well as make the price affordable because transportation business is no longer favourable.
“Before now, we used to load over 20 to 30 vehicles to Warri, Port Harcourt and other parts of the country, but the situation is no longer as it used to be; the traffic for travelling has reduced drastically.
“And there is no hike in transport fare; the fare for the above cities that I mentioned are still the same even as the price of fuel has been increasing; it has been between N1,000 and N1,200,” he said.
Mr Wobin Gora, Sector Commander, FRSC in Bayelsa, said the speed limiter was a necessity to all vehicles, urging commercial drivers in the state and Nigeria to obey the enforcement take-off date.
“The aim is to reduce fatality on the roads to the barest minimum because we have noticed that the major causes of accident are speeding, reckless driving and careless overtaking.
“Please, install one speed limiter today and stay alive; the device is very important; believe me, speed reduction can reduce fuel consumption in a vehicle,” Gora said.