#TrackNigeria: The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on Friday said FCT recorded the highest number of road crashes in March, with 118 crashes involving 733 persons with 29 fatalities and 295 injuries.
Mr Boboye Oyeyemi, Corps Marshal, said this in the FRSC’s Road Traffic Crash Report he signed for the month of March, and made available in Abuja.
According to the report, 922 road traffic crashes were reported across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the month of 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 said that other states with relatively high crash records included Kaduna with 76 crashes, Nasarawa with 58 crashes and Ogun with 57 crashes.
“Lagos and Niger recorded 45 crashes each,’’ FRSC said in the report.
The corps marshal said based on analysis of fatalities that 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.”
Oyeyemi said that in terms of location, Lagos-Ibadan road recorded 58 crashes resulting to 21 deaths and 122 injuries, followed 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 FRSC boss, speed violation remains the highest road traffic crash causative factor responsible for 470 road traffic crashes representing 49.5 per cent.
“Furthermore, comparative analysis of March 2019 crash statistics with that of the corresponding month in 2018 revealed eight per cent decrease in deaths and nine per cent 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). (NAN)
