The Assistant Corps Marshal / Zonal Commanding Officer RS2 ( Lagos/Ogun) of Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Imoh Etuk, has advised road users to be more cautious during the proverbial “Ember” months (September, October, November and December), in order to prevent accidents, deaths and injuries.
He also urged motorists to adapt completely to Novel Coronavirus ( COVID-19) prevention procedures currently in place to prevent the spread of the virus and and save Nigeria from more preventable deaths.
Etuk rendered the plea at the launch of the zone’s 2020 Ember Months Campaign in Lagos. The campaign had the theme: “Drive Safe, Stay Safe”.
According to him, although the outbreak of the coronavirus was shattering the world, more lives had been lost in Nigeria to road accidents rather than the pandemic.
He noted that a total of 4,737 people died in 9,698 road accidents in 2019 in Nigeria, while 30, 744 people suffered varying degrees of injuries from those accidents.
He also pointed out that Nigeria had lost 1,113 lives to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Etuk said that the figures showed that the number of lives lost to road accidents in 2019 in Nigeria was almost four times the number of lives lost to COVID-19 in the country.
“It is against the backdrop that the FRSC Zone 2, in July and September partnered some stakeholders to launch COVID-19 Enlightenment Kiosk to educate the public on COVID-19 safety protocols and also to educate the motoring public especially in motor parks on best driving practices to keep the highway safe for all road users.”
He blamed speeding for most road accidents, saying that FRSC was determined to fight the menace of speeding drivers with the introduction of a speed limiting device and enforcement of its usage by commercial vehicles.
Etuk also added that “one of the critical offences the corps focused on is overloading. The dangers of overloading a vehicle are enormous. It hampers the driver’s ability to control the vehicle; overloaded goods also pose a safety challenge to other road users,”
He said that the zone was dedicated to securing that COVID-19 would not be circulating among the motoring populace.
In his remarks at the occasion, the Lagos State Sector Commander of the FRSC, Corps Commander Olusegun Ogungbemi, who was represented by the Head of Operations of FRSC in Lagos State, Mr Cyril Matthew, said that the Commission would not back down in protecting Lagos highways safe for users.
He advised commercial and private vehicle drivers to exercise care during the “Ember” months to lessen accidents, while urging them to adopt the tenets of defensive driving, adding that they should drive within the proposed speed limits for their classes of vehicle.
He also warned against the use of phones while driving, overloading and other acts that could jeopardize their lives or those of others while on the roads.
The Ogun Sector Commander, Corps Commander Ahmed Umar, advised drivers to always consider other road users.
He noted that more driving occurred during the Ember months, urging drivers to be more careful.
A former President of the Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Mr Ayo Fanimokun, who also spoke at the occasion, noted that there were more vehicles on the roads during Ember months.
He appealed to road users to obey all traffic rules and regulations to reduce accidents.
In his goodwill message, the President, National Union of Road Transport Workers Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya, who was represented by the Asst. National Secretary of the union, Mr Adedokun Taiwo, said that members of the union were complying with the COVID-19 guidelines.
Akinsanya said that the union would continue to educate commercial drivers on the need to be more careful during Ember months.