FRSC warns Nigerians to shun bad driving habits in 2021

The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, has called on Nigerians to shun all bad driving habits, which led to increasing in road accidents and fatalities in the outgoing year.

Oyeyemi,  particularly urged Nigerians to drive safely and stay safe as they enter into the new year, saying “all bad driving habits should be discarded while the good lessons learnt and practised during the outgoing year should be sustained with a commitment to ensuring personal safety and health of the individuals”

This was contained in his New Year message to Nigerians as part of the ongoing sensitisation efforts by the Corps to curtail the spread of COVID-19 and ensuring public safety through adherence to traffic rules and regulations.

According to a statement signed by the Corps Public Education Officer, Assistant Corps Marshal, Bisi Kazeem, the Corps Marshal expressed gratitude to the Almighty God for the grace of protection and guidance given to the nation in the face of the various health, safety and security challenges experienced in the outgoing year.

He, therefore, appealed for sustained consciousness by people to overcome the challenges in the New Year.

Oyeyemi, enjoined members of the public not to violate the guidelines put in place by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, stressing the need for people to regularly wash their hands with soap, wear face masks and observe social distancing.

These he said, remain the best preventive measures against the infectious disease threatening the entire world through the second wave of the pandemic.

“We must remain vigilant in all that we do, to avoid a situation where our actions and inactions could contribute to the spread of the dreaded disease,” he stated.

The Corps Marshal said while he was pleased with the conduct of most drivers during the recent Christmas celebration which made the rate and fatalities of road traffic crashes manageable.

He, however, cautioned that if such good habits were not sustained in the New Year, there could be a resurgence of the crash situation which could undermine the gains made from the special patrol.

“Every Nigerian must remain committed to tackling the challenges which road safety and COVID-19 pose to the nation’s health, safety, security and wellbeing by doing what is right at all times,” he stressed.

On the most common factors responsible for fatal crashes during the Christmas celebration, the Corps Marshal restated his earlier observations on the pervasiveness of speeding as a causative factor, noting that Commanding Officers have been given a marching order to force down the rate of speed induced crashes through aggressive enforcement of the laws on speed limiting devices.

“The discovery that some Nigerians are still flouting the law on the use of speed limiting devices in their vehicles resulting in the upsurge in speed related crashes recorded during the special patrol was unfortunate. But I want to assure all road users that such abdication of responsibility by the drivers would not be tolerated in the New Year,” the FRSC boss warns.

He commended all the stakeholders that joined the road safety campaigns during the festive periods to make the roads safer, stressing that road safety remains a shared responsibility which no single organisation can tackle all alone without support and collaboration of relevant stakeholders.

Oyeyemi specially expressed gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari, for rendering all necessary moral and logistics support for the success of the campaigns with particular reference to prompt approval by the Federal Government to the third edition of the Nigeria Road Safety Strategy Document which will increase the impetus of road safety sensitisation programmes in the new year.

The FRSC Corps Marshal also urged all Nigerians to embrace the ongoing safer road campaign and make it an all-round success for quick socio-economic development of the nation.

Oyeyemi also reminded Nigerians that it’s only the living that can celebrate, stressing that speeding must be contained by all means, despite its thrilling effects.

While admonishing Nigerians on their personal responsibility to the campaigns to make the roads safer, he further urged them to remain active by always observing the traffic rules and regulations and reporting road and other emergencies promptly to the FRSC toll-free line: 122 or the studios of the National Traffic Radio-107.1fm through the telephone lines:08052998090 or 09067000015 for prompt response.

“As he wishes all Nigerians safer and prosperous new year, the Corps Marshal assures the nation that FRSC would continue to be vigilant in safeguarding the roads throughout the new year and beyond for safety and security of the people,” the statement said.

FRSC Corps Marshal further appealed to Nigerians to abide by the safety measures put in place to guarantee the safety and security of all members of the public.