As the year draws to a close, Frederick Ade Ogidan, the Kwara State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, has urged drivers to drive safely by avoiding excessive speeding, overloading, and the use of unsafe tyres.
Speaking at the “Avoid Speeding, Overloading, and Unsafe Tyres to Arrive Alive” campaign launch and mega rally this year in Ilorin on Thursday, the speaker said that despite the safety corps’ best efforts, “recklessness on the part of some motorists and unsafe night trips claimed over 30 lives within the first week of the last quarter of 2022.”
To ensure the safety of our roads, Ogidan urged all parties involved to step up their efforts.
“As the year draws to an end, you can only but expect increase in our patrol operations, enforcement and rescue operations as this is the only way to ensure we arrive alive,” he added.
The Sector Commander explained that as the year ends, the increase in vehicular movement may increase road crashes if all hands are not on deck to ensure safety on the roads through public enlightenment and education, effective patrols and prompt rescue services.
He especially appealed to commercial drivers who carry the highest number of passengers involved in road traffic crashes to ensure they drive with valid driver’s license, change old plate numbers to new ones to ensure uniformity in the corps licensing scheme, avoid night travels and obey all traffic rules and regulations.
He commended Governor Abdulrahaman Abdulrazaq for the infrastructural development on roads and appealed for the provision of road signs and good lights at night to ensure that Pillar 2 of the safe system approach which is to improve road infrastructure for all road users in line with the recommendations of the United Nations.
In his remark, the Zonal Commanding Officer, FRSC, Hyginus U Omeje, observed that the aerial night view of Ilorin, Kwara State capital, is not good enough, particularly when aircraft land at night in Ilorin.
Omeje, appealed to the state government to improve the aerial night view of Ilorin by installing solar power lights.
He also expressed dismay over unnecessary road traffic crashes between the Jebba-Ilorin-Ogbomoso highway due to excessive speeding and non-obedience to traffic rules and regulations.