The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi recently disclosed that using locally manufactured tyres in Nigeria was key if the country was to eliminate fake and substandard tyres on our roads.
Oyeyemi, in a paper titled “Merits of the Proper Use of Tyres” delivered at the 2018 National Tyre Conference, organised by the National Automotive and Development Council (NADDC) in Kano, stated that Tyres had been responsible for 5,562 vehicles being involved in road crashes from 2012-2017.
He gave the breakdown of total crashes that were caused by Tyres from 2012 to 2017 as follows: 2012 (693 crashes); 2013 (1,271 crashes); 2014 (873 crashes); 2015 (813 crashes); 2016 (689 crashes); and finally, in 2017 a total of 691 crashes representing 7.36% of the total crash recorded.
Dr. Oyeyemi’s presentation featured a survey conducted by FRSC on use of tyres on Nigerian roads in 2016 where it was discovered that of the 2,486 Vehicles and 10,024 tyres that constituted the population of the survey, 39% tyres are not expired as against 61%; 50% tyres are new, 35% fairly used tyres, and 15% re-bore tyres; 9% are complete wornout tyres as against 91% that are not complete worn-out.
Continuing, he mentioned that 60% of the vehicles surveyed have correct tyre pressure while 40% have incorrect tyre pressures, of this category, 26% of the tyres were over inflated and 14% under inflated; 42% of motorists either did not have or have poor knowledge of tyre expiration date, while 58% have good knowledge of tyre expiration dates.
In spite of the foregoing factors, Dr. Oyeyemi equally noted that higher speeds are less forgiving and lower speeds are more forgiving in all traffic situations including tyre burst. He gave an instance thus; at speed of 80km/hr the risk is 20 times that of 30km/hr in the case of a tyre blowout.
Furthermore, the Corps Marshal equally lamented total disregard and subsequent non compliance to the instructions on tyres. He also observed thus, “many of the local vulcanizers use non-properly calibrated measuring tools while some lack basic knowledge of measurement of tyre pressure which results in arbitrary gauging of tyres without recourse to manufacturer’s specification is common
He however stressed that poor state of roads such as potholes and failed portions of the road affect the life span of tyres.
He stated that the Corps will not relent in its efforts to ensure compliance to safety standards especially as it affects the use of tyres. The efforts are not limited to Enlightenment and awareness creation on tyre safety has been embarked upon by the Corps through electronic and print media including the social media.
Public Enlightenment where (a lot of handbills on tyre education have also been distributed to motorists, Pre-trip vehicles inspection programme at motor parks aimed at encouraging drivers to inspect their vehicles before embarking on a journey, Free Vehicle Safety Checks, and Total Enforcement.
Stating that the campaign on tyres need the cooperation of stakeholders to be successful, the Corps Marshal observed that winning the ‘war’ against substandard use of tyres requires the cooperation of all Stakeholders which is not limited to the NADDC, SON, NSE, NPF, VIO, MLA, NURTW, FRSC, RTEAN.
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