Road crashes kill 2,233 Nigerians in 4 months

The Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, on Monday, said 2,233 Nigerians lost their lives to road crashes in the first four months of 2021.

FRSC Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi, stated this in a virtual event to mark the fifth edition of the Babatunde Raji Fashola GabFest, with the theme ‘Arrive Alive: Building a Road Towards Better Driving Culture’.

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He said the death toll came from 4,459 accidents involving 28,826 persons.

The figures, from January to April, indicated that 691 died in January, 497 in February, 480 in March and 565 in April.

Boboye, who identified over-speeding as the major cause of accidents in Nigeria, said the perforation of aged cars on roads also contributed to the high level of accidents.

“There are more road users on the road, reasons for the high rate of accidents in January and April.

“The way at which we are experiencing road crashes that resulted in fatalities is alarming while the absence of toll plazas has made enforcement to be a bit difficult.

“When there are toll plazas, we will be able to track those speeding above the speed limit,” he said.

The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said bad roads should not be blamed for accidents, but those behind the wheels.

“If you can speed on that bad road and your car is vibrating very badly and you continue, the next question to ask yourself is are you a good driver.

“While we are chasing malaria and COVID-19 as we should, the silent killer is going away and undetected.”