The
Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has said that it will resume enforcement of
psychiatric tests on traffic law offenders in the country with effect from July
1.
According
to Bisi Kazeem, FRSC 's Corps Public Education Officer, in a press
release in Abuja today , Corps Marshal, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, stated this at the
opening of a five-day training programme for 22 FRSC officials on traffic
safety for non-motorised transportation (NMT) in Abuja on Monday.
Oyeyemi
said the test would focus on four areas of violations namely, use of phone
while driving, traffic light and route violations as well as dangerous
driving.
The
move, according to him, is necessitated by continued violations in the
identified four areas despite efforts by the Corps to change the behaviour of
motorists through education and enforcement.
``We
are worried about the continuous use of phone while driving, traffic light
violations, route violations and dangerous driving.
``I
have invited the commanding officers for a strategic session on Friday.
``We
will give them full directives to resume the referral of all these class of
offenders to various government hospitals for check of their mental state.
``I
think it is an act of irresponsibility for somebody to be driving and be using
phone or for a traffic light to stop you and you are jumping the line.
``It
means something is wrong with your mental faculty. So, there is need to examine
this, to really check whether you are fit to drive, whether you have the mental
capability.’’
``
Fine is not the issue; the issue is we need a positive attitudinal change of
Nigeria.
``We
cannot continue to be having fatal crashes due to traffic light violations,
people jumping the traffic lights, I think it is crass irresponsibility.
Oyeyemi
said that offenders would bear the cost of the test in addition to paying the
stipulated fines.
He
stated that the FRSC was empowered by its enabling act to undertake the
proposed psychiatric examination.
``The
Act (FRSC Establishment Act) is very clear on this. You can challenge it.
People have been challenging the act, and that is the beauty of democracy.
``You
can challenge it if you want to. For you to have a drivers license, you must go
for medical test.
``So,
I can refer you back for medical check. What I am asking you to do is to go
back for rechecking whether you are actually fit for driving, simple. It is
very clear.
``The
offender will bear the cost. When they confirm that he is fit, then he will go
for retraining programme and pay the fine.’’
The
Corps Marshall said the NMT training programme, which is sponsored by the
Government of Netherlands through its embassy in Nigeria, was pursuant to
corps’ determination to mainstream non-motorised transportation in the country.
Non-motorised
transportation includes walking, bicycling, skating, wheelchair travel and
other forms of human powered transportation.
Oyeyemi
said that besides reducing accidents, bicycling promotes clean urban
transportation and physical fitness. He said the FRSC had been in the forefront
of the campaign for cycling as a means of transportation in the country over
the years.
According
to him, the corps has developed working documents, built collaborations with
other stakeholders and rolled out several programmes including the National
Bicycle Week as part of its advocacy.
He
said the NMT training programme, which is being sponsored by the Government of
Netherlands through its embassy in Nigeria, was in furtherance of the corps’
efforts.
He
explained that the training would improve the knowledge of FRSC personnel on
NMT to enhance the agency’s advocacy and adaptation to safety for this mode of
transportation.
``This
is a certainty to propel attainment of the goals of the United Nations Decade
of Action for Road Safety aimed at reducing road crashes and fatalities to 50
per cent by 2020.
``We
need to promote this form of transportation because talking about climate
change, Nigeria is signatory to the Paris Accord.
``So,
we need to reduce greenhouse effects through control of emission control, and
this is one of the ways to.
``There
is no reason why I cannot ride bicycle from my house to the office which I will
be doing once in a while. We should ride our bicycles which is another form of
exercise,’’ he said.
The
Dutch embassy is providing both the financial and technical support for the
training, which is divided into two phases. Under the first phase, eight middle
level officers of the FRSC underwent a week training on NMT in Netherlands
between May 28 and June 3.
The
second phase, which the Corps Marshal declared open the FRSC headquarters in
Abuja on Monday, was enlarged with additional 15 participants.
While
thanking the Dutch embassy for providing the training platform, Oyeyemi
solicited more support from Netherlands for non-motorised transportation in the
country.
Mr
Joop Goos, the consultant for the programme, said the training would involve
classroom lectures and practical exercises to deepen the knowledge of the participants
in NMT.
While
noting that the expectations of the Dutch embassy were high, Goos urged the
participants to make good use of the training opportunity.
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