Disturbed
by the spate of road traffic crashes associated with the use of substandard
tyres, the Federal Road Safety Corps has reiterated its appeal to motorists to
avoid the use of sub-standard tyres on their vehicles.
According
to the Corps Public Education Officer, Imoh Etuk, “this trend has no doubt,
contributed to avoidable road traffic crashes in Nigeria. Tyres are very
important to the life of a motorist because, among other devices in a vehicle,
tyre is the only link between the vehicle and the road.
Etuk also
frowned at the rate at which motorists in the country operate with fairly used
tyres even in the face of road safety challenges associated with the use of
such tyres. He therefore urged motorists to use only tyres recommended by the
Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON).
Speaking
further, he said, “It is worrisome that some motorists patronize these products
which have not only expired but do not conform to minimum safety standards. “It
is also imperative to note that new tyres are not ruled out from expiration
because some tyres may get close to expiry date before being purchased and used
by motorists who are ignorant of this”, he stated.
Imoh also
stated that “ Tyres carry all the loads in the vehicle and to a large extent,
determines the safety of the occupants in a vehicle”. Another
issue worthy of consideration is the tyre pressure. Under-inflated tyres wear
fast at the edges of the tread pattern. In the same vein, under-inflated
tyres cause overheating and overheated tyres commonly lead to tyre burst”, he
further stated.
The Corps Public Education Officer added that the present trend of road
crashes which are speed-induced, often lead to tyre burst and justifies
on-going advocacy for speed limiting device to be installed on vehicle plying
the nation’s highways in order to reduce the spate of avoidable road traffic
crashes.
He pointed out that under the present weather condition, Vehicles owners
should ensure regular tyre checks for uneven wears, cracks or damage. “It is
also instructive to properly inflate your vehicle tyre as underinflated tyres
make the tubes to become hot and increases the risk of a blow out and
subsequent summersault of vehicles”, he added.
As the
Federal Road Safety Corps intensifies its sustained safety awareness campaign
towards improved road culture, it hereby directs its Commands nationwide to
aggressively clamp down on the violators of traffic offence. Road users are
further warned to avoid road vices such as overloading, under-age driving,
drunk driving, speed limit violation, driving with mobile phone and non-use of
seat belt in order to ensure sanity on the highways.
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