Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Wednesday said most of the trucks plying Nigerian roads are very old and must be replaced to further enhance road safety and reduce accidents.
This was disclosed by FRSC Lagos State Sector Commander, Hyginus Omeje, while speaking at an stakeholders’ engagement meeting on truck-related accidents and the need to regulate movement of trucks in the state.
According to him,
“Most of these vehicles that we have on our roads, particularly trucks, tankers and trailers are overage. They are old and need to be replaced but the economy is not telling the operators to do the needful.
“Most of the trucks on our roads are actually old, older than you and I. They need to be changed to further enhance safety on the roads.”
The commander added that human, mechanical and environmental factors had been responsible for the increasing road fatalities and deaths.
“At times, you see a truck having a lone crash and you begin to ask of the cause. The cause may be that the driver slept off or the truck not mechanically sound and being managed,” he said.
He pointed out that the state of the road is not as important as attitudinal disposition of drivers on the road, saying most drivers were not careful on the road whether the roads are smooth or bad.
“The issue of the road is even a double-edged sword. We have had cases where some sections of the road that are well-expanded and rehabilitated witnessed fatal crashes when drivers wanted to finish their speedometer. Good roads can cause crashes, bad roads can also cause crashes.
“It is expected from that man behind the wheel to use the road in line with laid-down rules and regulations. If we can obey traffic rules and regulations and drive defensively, we can avoid all these crashes. Many times unfortunately, vehicles that are not roadworthy are being managed by their drivers,” he said.
Omeje added that FRSC has been engaging stakeholders in terms of collaboration, awareness campaigns and enlightenment on what the corps has been doing on truck-related accidents.
He added that stakeholders’ engagement was considered key by the FRSC in line with its goal of reducing Road Traffic Crash (RTC) by 20 per cent and fatalities by 20 per cent in 2019.
“We are always at motor parks, synergising with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners and other critical stakeholders.
“The FRSC trained about 1,500 Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG) drivers about two weeks ago at a five-day programme.
“We have been partnering also with DPR to see how we can address the issue of crashes involving tankers of the wet cargo,” Omeje said.
He noted that the corps had a programme called ‘Safe to Load’ to also address truck and tanker-related accidents.
Omeje explained that the programme has led the corps to post officers to places where the tankers load their contents, to ensure that the minimum safety standards are met.
“We are also enforcing this, because only engagement will not work. We make offenders pay relevant fines and take some to mobile courts for prosecution.
“We are clamping down on cases of overloading on our highways and have started ‘Operation Show Your Driver’s Licence,'” Omeje said.
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