Accident claims 413 on Kaduna roads in 2016
//Godwin Ekosin, Kaduna, N/w Nigeria//
Kaduna Sector Command of Federal Road Safety Corps has revealed that 413 people lost their lives in 596 accidents, involving 821 vehicles and 4,616 people on various roads in the state between January and December 2016.
State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Francis Udoma gave the disclosure on Tuesday while addressing newsmen on the command’s activities last year, adding that 2,448 people sustain varying degree of injuries within the period under review, making the total number of casualties to 2, 897, slightly above 2,481 recorded in 2015 while there was an increase in number of accidents from 485 in 2015 to 596 in 2016.
According to him, “there was however a decrease in the number of deaths from 443 recorded in 2015 to 413 in 2016 and an increase in the number of injured from 2,038 in 2015 to 2448 in 2016″.
On leading causes of the accidents he said, overspeeding remains the major cause of accidents on Nigerian highways, “speed thrills, but kills” and urged motorists to install speed limit device to check against untimely death.
On measures pitting in place to check the rate of accident in the state he hinted that, there is ban on sale of alcohol and other illicit drugs in motor parks throughout the state as part of strategy to reduce the rate of accidents in 2017, believing it would be enforced in collaboration with the Kaduna State Government, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Nigeria Union of Road Transport Workers and other relevant agencies.
“We would equally sensitise drivers in all motor parks across the state against drinking alcohol and or any for form of illicit drugs, which contribute to high number of accidents.
“This has become necessary, following reports that a lot of driver takes all kinds of illicit drugs before climbing the drivers seat, thereby engendering his life and that of passengers”, said the sector commander.