FRSC records fewer road accidents in last five days – Chidoka

There were 214 road accidents between December 19 and 23

The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Osita Chidoka, says fewer road accidents were recorded in the last five days compared to the same period in 2012.

This information is contained in a statement issued by Jonas Agwu, the Public Education Officer of the FRSC, on Tuesday in Abuja.

The statement said that 107 deaths were recorded with 1,398 persons injured in 214 road accidents between December 19 and 23 compared to 156 deaths and 1,882 injured persons in 236 accidents in 2012.

Mr. Chidoka said that 668 persons were rescued from accidents during the period as against 1,056 persons in the corresponding period in 2012.

“The commission will not rest on its oars to ensure further reduction in road crashes during the yuletide in line with its 2013 strategic goals,” Mr. Chidoka was quoted as saying.

It would be recalled that the commission set a target of reducing road crashes by 20 per cent and fatalities arising from them by 30 per cent in 2013.

Mr. Chidoka commended other relevant agencies such as the Police, Air Force, Army and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps for complementing FRSC’s efforts in the ongoing special patrol.

He also stressed that speed limit violation remained the highest cause of crashes in the last five days with the arrest of 4,051 offenders for violating traffic rules.

According to the statement, 569 of such offences were arraigned in Mobile Courts with 404 of them being convicted, while 85 were discharged.

The statement said that the aerial surveillance carried out by the FRSC provided clear sight of traffic flow along critical highways.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the FRSC begun the special yuletide patrol tagged “Operation Zero Tolerance’’ on December 19. The patrol is expected to end on January 12, 2014.

(NAN)