The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ogun Command, says it has embarked on a mobile court/ intervention patrol on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, as part of efforts to curb the incessant road crashes on the road, which have claimed lives of many people and left others injured.
The command’s spokesperson, Florence Okpe, who disclosed this on Tuesday in a statement, noted that most crashes along the expressway occurred as a result of excessive speed, wrongful overtaking, route violation, and other major crimes.
While noting that 95 per cent of these crashes “are completely avoidable, Okpe implied that the human factor accounts for the majority of highway crashes.
“These crashes cannot however be separated from the high level of recklessness and negligence on the part of drivers. Most of the victims of these crashes are within the ages of the teeming young population of the country, people in their prime with promising futures and breadwinners of their families.
“According to FRSC Ogun, 95% of these crashes are avoidable which means that the human factor accounts for most of the crashes that occur on the highway.
“It is against this backdrop that FRSC Ogun decided to carry out a mobile court/ intervention patrol on Lagos-Ibadan expressway to curb these hazards and also sensitize the motoring public on some safety precautions, especially during this period.
“During this intervention patrol, a lot of offenses were recorded, and drivers were arrested and prosecuted as well. Offences like dangerous driving, driving without a valid driver’s license, failure to install speed limit devices in commercial vehicles, driving with worn out or expired tyres or without extra tyres, driving under the influence of alcohol or hard substances, route violation (one-way), light sign violation and the host of other offences,” she said.
According to Okpe, the ongoing operation will also culminate with the Ember months safety campaign, which aims to lower the number of road traffic accidents, injuries, and fatalities as the holidays get near.
“The Command also encourages passengers to call the toll-free number 122 to report any abnormality,” she added.