No traffic booking next week, but drive carefully

From 10 September to 14 September, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) will suspend traffic rules enforcement for a week-long intensive nationwide safety awareness campaign, Mr Jonas Agwu, the Public Education Officer, said.

Agwu announced the plan at a news conference in Abuja on Friday and appealed to motorists and other road users not to use the period to violate traffic rules.

“As we sheathe our swords (enforcement) in terms of no booking, from Monday to Friday, motorists should not see it as avenue to drive and phone,’’ he said.

Agwu also advised motorists not to drive above speed limits or drive against the flow of traffic and avoid overloading vehicles.

“We are pleading for the understanding, support and cooperation of members of the public as we embark on this unique campaign. Let us drive by the rules and not our own instinct,’’ he said.

Justifying the need for the campaign, Agwu said that an FRSC report showed that there was an increase in road traffic accidents in some identified routes around the country.

He named such routes as Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Okada-Benin highway, Abuja-Lokoja and Akure-Owo roads, pointing out that most of the accidents involved heavy duty vehicles.

The commission also named six states – Ogun, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Kwara, Kogi and Ondo as well as FCT as places with “dangerous routes’’.

’’ Lagos-Ibadan, Benin-Ore, Ogbomosho-Ilorin, Lokoja-Abuja, Enugu-Otukpo and Kaduna-Zaria are crash-prone routes,’’ Agwu said.

Giving further justification for the campaign, the FRSC spokesman said that 2,409 accidents and 1,562 deaths were recorded nationwide in the first quarter of the year.

He said the record contrasted with the 4,500 accidents and 3,800 deaths projected by the commission for the year.

Agwu said that during the period of the campaign, there would be extensive re-alignment of patrol operations along the “notorious black spots and road crash prone routes’’.

He said “patrol in the municipalities would be collapsed and manned by personnel of the commission from commands, zones and units.