The Federal Road Safety Commission
(FRSC) on Tuesday said it had concluded arrangements to ensure safety of the
nation’s highways during the Ember Months.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO),
FRSC, Mr Bisi Kazeem, made the statement in an interview in Abuja.
``Ember Months are here again and we
want to disabuse peoples mind that the months are months of mystery and myths.
``The months are neither dangerous
months nor about sucking of human blood as it is believed in some quarters, but
rather, in most of the periods we witness more upsurge in vehicular traffic,’’
he said.
Kazeem explained that the prevalent
upsurge during yuletide compared to other months both in vehicular and human
traffic was due to overzealousness of people in order to maximise profits.
``You will find that commercial
drivers will want to carry more passengers in order to maximise profit and by
so doing, they drive dangerously without consideration for other road users.
``So, having observed this development
nationwide, what we did first was to embark on sporadic enlightenment and
public education to curb this ugly development by all our formations,’’ he
said.
Kazeem said all the efforts were
geared toward making the nation’s roads safe for the users.
He explained that the commission had
zero tolerance for accidents during yuletide periods, which was the reason why
each command normally inaugurated campaign at its various areas without
necessarily waiting for the headquarters.
This, he said, would be a continuous
exercise throughout the period of yuletide in order to reduce carnage on our
roads.
``We also look at critical
corridors, accident prone areas and populated areas to be well policed by our
personnel to avoid accidents.
``We also emphasise on enforcement
because we have come to realise that education and enlightenment without
enforcement is just like entertainment. So, we match education and
enlightenment with enforcement,’’ Kazeem said.
He promised that the FRSC officials
would also be on ground to check drivers because, they had realised that during
yuletide there were always cases of drunk driving which was not a healthy
development.
Kazeem also promised that the Speed
Limit Device would come into effect On Oct. 1.
He said that the device would go a
long way in reducing roads crashes, as the commission had realised that about
56 pet cent of road crashes were as a result of speeding.
``We are also going to use what is
known as passengers watch where you find out that somebody will be in your
vehicle without you suspecting is a road safety officer.
``And once you are misbehaving and
that person tried to caution you and when you prove stubborn, he or she will
get you arrested and the person will face the consequence.
``We also have traffic calming
control and Safety Engineering Department which conduct road audit to identify
where there will be need for rehabilitation, probably repairs.
``If it is
Federal roads we recommend to Federal Ministry of Works and Federal Roads
Maintenance Agency (FERMA); and if it is States roads, we recommend to State
Ministry of Works,’’ Kazeem said
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Society