Drivers’ strict compliance to safety belts, phone use saves lives on roads – FRSC
By Njadvara MUSA, Maiduguri
The Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC) has said that drivers’ compliance with safety belts, overloads, and phone use saves many people’s lives and property on the road.
According to the Agency, about 75% of accidents on roads and highways are caused by human errors and drivers’ non-compliance with safety measures.
Unveiling the non-compliance to road safety yesterday (Wednesday) in Maiduguri, the Borno state sector Commander of FRSC, Boyi Utten, disclosed: “Most of the auto crashes on roads are caused by over-speeding, non-compliance of drivers to all the road safety measures.”
He lamented that the non-fastening of safety belts and using phones while driving are the major causes of deaths and property loss on roads.
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Besides non-compliance to safety measures, he added that over-speeding could lead to preventable road crashes that claim many lives of motorists and commenters.
“No matter the distance to be covered in a journey, the maximum speed should not exceed100 kilometres per hour for regular vehicles,” he said.
He said that commercial drivers of trucks and buses should maintain 90km per hour.
Utten attributed last week’s auto crash that claimed 37 lives along the Maiduguri-Jakana road to over-speeding and expired tyres.
He appealed to the drivers to desist from over-speeding to reach their destination to get more passengers during the yuletides.
On the importance of safety belts, he said that fastening belts prevent people from being thrown out of vehicles whenever there is an accident.
Continued, “No matter the severity of the road crashes, fastening of safety belts, while driving both reduces the rates of being thrown out of vehicles, sustained injuries and deaths.”
According to him, the Agency will partner with the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC) on the use of substandard tyres and abuse of drugs among drivers.
He, therefore, warned commercial drivers during the ember months against overloading trucks and buses with goods and commuters.
