-Says country recorded 1,602 deaths in accidents between Sept. -Dec 2017
The Corp Marshall of the Federal Road Safety Corps(FRSC), Boboye Oyeyemi has ordered an eye test to be conducted on every motorist to make the ember months free of accidents.
Oyeyemi said the step became necessary due to1,602 deaths recorded on highways from 2,805 accidents between September and December 2017, across the country, describing the scenario as too devastating to be overlooked.
Speaking in Ado Ekiti during the 2018 ember months campaign tagged: ‘Safe Driving, Saves Lives,’ the Corps Marshall, said the FRSC would no longer tolerate unwarranted killings of innocent Nigerians owing to recklessness on the part of some road users.
He said the corps would be strict on its conduct of vision acuity tests to make sure that all drivers on the roads don’t have defective sight he called on other traffic agencies to collaborate with FRSC to achieve the task.
“The ember months are a period of festivity. Many people erroneously believe that evil forces on the roads are responsible for road crashes and fatalities.
“Whereas, it is the struggle on the part of most people to travel to meet their loved ones, more trips on the part of commercial drivers to make more money in preparation for the yuletide without adequate rest are responsible for the road mishaps.
“The corps is going to be strict on its conduct of vision acuity tests to make sure all drivers on the roads do not have defective sight.
“Responsibility equally falls on the other traffic agencies to collaborate with FRSC to achieve this task.
“In the months of September to December in 2017, the total number of crashes recorded were 2,805, number of deaths were 1,602, people involved were 20,196 and vehicles involved were 4,503.