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 with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) 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.
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“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 further that the commission had also started rallies and enlightenment campaigns at the motor parks, Mosques, Churches, Companies and other relevant areas to enlighten them on road safety during yuletide.
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.(NAN)