The Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, has revealed the major cause of road accidents in Nigerian. This is even as the Corps said that most of the accidents on Nigerian roads are due to drivers’ negligence.
This was disclosed by the Edo Sector Commander of the Corps, Cyril Mathew. He made the disclosure at the “ember months” sensitization town hall meeting in Benin City, on Saturday.
Speaking at the event, the Commander stated that the ember months campaign focuses on passengers.
He noted that statistics had shown that passengers suffer more fatalities than drivers.
He said, “The records of the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, NBS, showed thousands of road traffic deaths annually. With a significant number of the casualties being passengers traveling in commercial vehicles.
“The NBS statistic also said, approximately 63 per cent of all road traffic deaths involved passengers.
“Most of the accidents were the result from the negligence of the drivers. Who engaged in risky behaviours on the road thereby putting their passengers at significant risk.
“A study conducted by the FRSC revealed that in road traffic crashes involving commercial drivers, the chances of passengers sustaining serious injuries or fatalities are considerably higher than that of the drivers.
“This is often due to the design of the vehicle which tends to offer more protection to the driver due to safety features such as airbags among others. In contrast, passengers in poorly constructed vehicles lacked such safety features.
“Passengers were not able to influence the decision-making of the drivers thereby leaving the passengers vulnerable to the consequences of their dangerous driving action,” he said.
Mathew noted that the town hall meeting was to sensitize passengers not to keep quiet but to speak out to save their lives. This is because they suffer more when a vehicle with many passengers is involved in an accident.
He noted that excessive speeding, driving without obeying traffic lights, driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs, and any substance, and distracting driving such as making calls, smoking, and eating while driving, among others, constitute dangerous driving on the road.
The Commander, therefore, called on drivers to obey traffic rules and regulations to ensure safe arrival at their destinations.
source: Daily Post
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