The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Gombe State Command, on Wednesday said no fewer than 59 deaths were recorded in 166 crashes from January and June in the state.
The Corps Commander of the FRSC, Mr Felix Theman, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe.
Theman said within the period, 831 persons were involved in the crashes, 543 persons sustained various degrees of injuries while 229 were unhurt.
While giving the breakdown of crashes, he said that January had the highest number of 48 crashes, seven deaths while June had the highest deaths from crashes with 21 deaths from 21 crashes.
He said that the period showed that speeding, wrongful overtaking, overloading and attitude of motorcyclists on the roads were the suspected causes of the crashes.
The commander said that the command had taken measures to minimise road crashes in the second half of the year.
He said the command had strengthened enforcement to check use of phone while driving, underage driving, overloading, speeding and other causes of crashes in the state.
“We have also increased awareness to Churches and Mosques and other strategic locations and so far over 5, 000 persons were reached in worship centres.
“We are doing this amongst other measures of road safety because life has no duplicate. The 59 persons that died were contributing to the development of the nation.
“ So we need drivers and other road users to know that safety is key and it is a collective responsibility to make our roads safe and free of crashes.’’
The sector commander also warned against poor attitude by motorists while on the road, particularly motorcyclists in the state.
He said that the attitude of riding motorcycles without side mirrors was an offence and “we will not relent in enforcing the law in that regard’’.
“The side mirror is supposed to guide you as a rider to see what is happening at the rear but motorcyclists deliberately remove them just for fancy.
“We have been enforcing that and once we arrest you, the provision of the law is there, you will pay the fine; so motorcyclists are to be guided,’’ he said.
Theman appealed to the motoring public in the state to always avoid speed, overloading, wrongful overtaking and driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
“You must prioritise your safety above other things while on the road because life is precious and we should be mindful of our lives and those of others who use the road,’’ he advised.
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