The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), says Gov. Chukwuma Soludo’s massive road project will enhance road safety and reduce accidents in the state.

The FRSC sector commander, Anambra, Adeoye Irelewuyi, made the assertion at the flag off of the 2023 ember months safety campaign, on Thursday in Onitsha, with the theme – ‘Speed Thrills But Kills, Drive Responsibly and Avoid Overloading’.

Mr Irelewuyi said: “In Nigeria, available statistics show that more than 60 per cent of road traffic crashes are due to speeding.

“One of the things that make people go above the speed limit is when they are delayed due to bad roads. When the roads are bad, motorists encounter delay in travel time.

“If the roads are good, people can plan their travel and there will be no need to overspeed. I want to commend Gov. Soludo who had diligently embarked on fixing the roads in all the nooks and crannies of the state.

“I believe that the road construction and rehabilitation are efforts and support for road safety because they will help to curb speed violations and crashes on our roads,” he said.

The sector commander said that the ember months campaign was to sensitise road users to drive safely, avoid overloading and imbibe safer road culture to reduce road accidents.

He said that the command would deploy technologies such as radar guns to measure the speed of vehicles as well as alcolizer for drug and alcohol testing in drivers.

“For these Ember months, the Command is stepping up public enlightenment activities in motor parks, media as well as patrol enforcement activities across the state.

“This is because we usually have upsurge in traffic volume and there is usually an increase in road traffic crashes. We urge motorists to cooperate with the corps as we work to reduce the rate of fatalities in the state,” he said.

In his remarks, Mr Soludo said that 90 per cent of road crashes were caused by avoidable human errors.

Mr Soludo, who was represented by Patricia Igwebuike, the state commissioner for transportation, urged motorists to complement the efforts of government and FRSC by obeying traffic rules.

“We all have a role to play to ensure our roads are safe. Use your seatbelts, do not drink and drive, do not speed or overtake anyhow, check your vehicles before you hit the road and children should not be allowed to sit in front.

“If we can adhere to these safety rules, it will reduce road accidents on our roads,” he said.

(NAN)