The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said 1, 466 Nigerians died in road accidents in the first quarter of 2017, according to its Road Transport Data.
The NBS Road Transport Data for the 1st Quarter of 2017 posted on its website stated that 1,363 of the 1,466 Nigerians that got killed in the period were adults.
“It represents that 93 per cent of the figure are adults, while the remaining 103 Nigerians, representing seven per cent of the figure are children.
“1,164 male victims, representing 79 per cent got killed in road accidents in the quarter while 302 females, representing 21 per cent got killed,’’ it stated.
Similarly, the report said that a total of 8,672 Nigerians got injured in the road accidents in the first quarter.
The report stated that 8,151 of the 8,672 Nigerians that got injured represented 94 per cent of the figure.
The report said that 94 per cent of the accidents victims showed that they were adults while the remaining 521 Nigerians, representing six per cent of the figure were children.
It stated that 6,422 males, representing 74 per cent, got injured in road accidents in the quarter while 2,250 females, representing 26 per cent got injured.
According to the report, a total of 2,556 road accidents occurred in the period.
It, however, attributed the cause of accident to speed violation, which accounted for 42.69 per cent of the total road accidents reported.
“Loss of control and dangerous driving followed closely as they both accounted for 12.73 per cent and 7.34 per cent of the total accidents recorded.’’
The report said that the estimated vehicle population in the quarter was put at 11,458,370.
“Commercial vehicles accounted for 53.8 per cent of the total vehicle population, private vehicles accounted for 44.5 per cent, government vehicles accounted for 1.65 while diplomat vehicles accounted for 0.1 per cent.
“With the total population of the country put at 193,392,517 in 2016, Nigeria’s vehicle per population ratio is put at 0.06.
“Data on the category of vehicles involved in the road accidents in the quarter reflected that 59 per cent of vehicles are commercial (2,428), 40 per cent are private (1,617), one per cent are government (55) and the remaining are diplomat (3).’’
It further stated that FCT recorded the highest number of road accidents in the period, closely followed by Kaduna and Niger States while Borno and Bayelsa States recorded the least.
“A total of 220,736 national drivers licences were produced in the quarter.
“Lagos and FCT produced the highest number of drivers’ licences, while Yobe and Kebbi States produced the least number of national drivers’ licences.’’
Similarly, it stated that a total of 113,358 vehicle number plates were produced in the period.
“Ebonyi and Anambra states produced the highest number of vehicle plate numbers, while Lagos and Sokoto States produced the least number of vehicle plate numbers.’’ (NAN)