The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Oyo State Sector Command, has said it apprehended 6,771 drivers for violating various traffic offences in the state in first Quarter of 2021.
The FRSC Sector Commander in the state, Mrs Uche Chukwurah, disclosed this on Monday during a press conference to mark the 6th United Nation Global Road Safety Week, 2021.
The 2021 United Nation Global Road Safety Week has the theme “Street for Life ” and is celebrated from May 17 to May 23.
She said that the most prevalent among the offences committed by motorists in the state were seat belt violation, failure to install speed limit device, drivers licence violation, and riding motorcycles without helmets. The sector commander said that the offenders were fined after undergoing public enlightenment and advised to adhere to traffic rules and regulations.
Chukwurah, who said that excessive speed was the main causative factor of road traffic crashes in Nigeria and the world in general, appealed to motorists to always maintain road speed limits. “The 2021 UN Global Road Safety Week is focusing its campaign on calling for 30 km/h (20 mph) speed limit to be the norm for cities, towns and villages worldwide.
“According to the UN health agency, every year more than 1.3 million people die in road trafficking accidents, that is one person every 24 seconds. “We want to stem the tide of excessive speed and advocate for 30km/h speed limit within the cities, communities and villages to ensure that we have streets where we can walk safely and our children can get to school unharmed,” Chukwurah said.
The sector commander said that the new policy of 30 km/ h (20mph) speed limit would be achieved through an intensive public enlightenment, seminars and rallies. She said that the FRSC would within the week inaugurate “the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021 to 2030 and its Global Plans” that would aligned with emphasis on importance of a holistic approach to road safety.
”This calls for improvements on ongoing design of roads and vehicles, improving laws and enforcement on behavioural risks like speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol and providing timely emergency care for the injured, ” she said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the corps in collaboration with Special marshals later took their sensitisation rally to Eleyele Motor park. The officials educated motorists on the need to drive safely and drive within the specified speed limits on different roads.
