Date: 2016-11-24

The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Kwara Sector Command, on Wednesday in Idofian, Kwara, inaugurated the 'ember months' road safety campaign. The Sector Commander of the commission, Mr Sunday Maku, made this known in his address of welcome at the inauguration of the 2016 ember months safety campaign tagged, "Crash the crashes; speed kills".

"The ember months are around again; they have started since September and with them come the attendant traffic challenges. "This period or season is laced with a lot of travelling-induced activities and it is equally a season of economic boom for our transporters. "However, we need to be alive to celebrate and maximise the potentials of this season, which calls for safety caution.

"This year has been an eventful one in terms of robust awareness campaigns and collaborative public discourse on safety issues. "I would like to add that speed kills faster with bad tyres, unhealthy drivers and no speed limiter to control the acceleration of vehicles," Maku said.

He added that adhering to and conforming with laid down traffic rules and regulations were the best way to stay alive during the ember months. "Some of the things we preach against include over-speeding, drinking alcohol while driving or driving when drunk and that all commercial vehicles must have speed limiter installed, to mention a few.

"Obedience is better than sacrificing your lives. "Remember that if a driver is bent on suicide, do not allow him or her to take you along; warn him or her.

"I wish us all a crash-free end of year and New Year celebrations" Maku added. The sector commander expressed appreciation to the stakeholders including security agencies for the roles they have played toward achieving maximum safety standards on the roads. The Zonal Commanding Officer, Kwara RS8HQ, Mr John Meheux, who was represented by the Zonal Head of Operations, Mrs Daniel, said Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs) had reduced in the state. Daniel said the reduction was due to the cooperation of the public and transporters.

"Between September to October 2015, we had 104 RTCs which resulted in 397 persons being injured and 45 persons were lost. "In 2016, between September and October there were 85 RTCs, 310 persons were injured and 42 persons lost their lives.

"We may think the difference is little but each life matters to us and to God, we want to reduce RTCs to minimum possible. "And I want to assure you that the speed limiter device will be extended to private vehicle owners also, I thank all the road transport unions for your cooperation," she said.

Mr Abdulrazak Omotoke, the state Secretary, National Union of Road Transport Workers, said the safety of lives and properties is of paramount importance to the union. "We have started to work against drinking alcohol and driving and we assure you that very soon it will be a thing of the past.

"We will continually appreciate the efforts of the FRSC and we urge them to continue to monitor over speeding," he said. Mr Abdulrahman Olayinka, the representative of the National Association of Road Transport Owners in the state, called for the repair of damaged roads across the state and nation at large.

Olayinka urged drivers to learn to differentiate between pleasure driving and long distance driving. He gave an assurance that members of the union would install speed limiters on their vehicles to curb excessive speed on the highways.