The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) recorded the highest number of road crashes in March, with 118 crashes involving 733 persons with 29 fatalities and 295 injuries. Boboye Oyeyemi, corps marshal, said this in the FRSC’s road traffic crash report released by the corps for the month of March.
According to the report, 922 road traffic crashes were reported across the 36 states and the FCT in March. “However, 6, 558 persons were involved in the road traffic crashes, out of which 420 died and 3,122 others survived with varying degrees of injuries. This statistical analysis indicates an increase by six per cent and 29 per cent in fatalities and crash cases when compared to February,” he said.
Oyeyemi listed other states with relatively high crash records to include Kaduna, with 76 crashes; Nasarawa, 58 crashes and Ogun with 57 crashes. According to the report, Lagos and Niger recorded 45 crashes each. The corps marshal said based on analysis of fatalities, Kaduna ranked top with 44 fatalities followed by Bauchi with 40, Niger and FCT followed with 31 and 29
fatalities respectively.
“Oyo had 26 fatalities, while Ogun and Zamfara recorded 24 fatalities each.” He added that in terms of.,location, Lagos-Ibadan road recorded 58 crashes resulting to 21 deaths and 122 injuries, fol- lowed by Kaduna-Abuja with 49 crashes while Abuja-Lokoja road recorded 48 crashes.
“Nyanya-AyA recorded 16 crashes while Abuja-Keffi road recorded 12 crashes,’’ he said. According to the corps marshal, speed violation accounts for the highest road traffic crash
causative factor responsible for 470 road traffic crashes representing 49.5 percent.
“Furthermore, comparative analysis of March 2019 crash statistics with that of the corresponding month in 2018 revealed eight percent decrease in deaths andnine percent decrease in the number of people injured’’. Oyeyemi called on media organisations to assist
the corps in sensitising the motoring public to the risk of speeding, necessity of installing speed limiting device and obeying traffic rules.
He appealed to the Federal Government for long-term investments in the corps to reduce traffic
crashes and fatalities. He said that to enhance the war against road crashes and fatalities, sustainable road safety management must be planned.
“This requires long-term investment and appropriate capacity building for effective service delivery,’’ the corps marshal said.
He stressed that international organisations, donors, as well as public and private sectors must work together towards the realisation of the set goals in line with United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020).
