The Federal Road Safety Corps has entered into a strategic alliance with key stakeholders to reduce road crashes in Nigeria.

A communique issued Thursday at the end of the emergency press briefing and stakeholders meetings to address rising crashes in Nigeria stated that the partnership, aimed at addressing the root causes of road crashes and promoting road safety, brought together transport unions, fleet operators, and other critical stakeholders from the 36 states and FCT.

In the last month, the FRSC witnessed three landmark crashes caused by negligence, fatigue, speeding, night trips and dangerous driving.

According to the communique, infrastructure and vehicle-related issues, driver-related factors, and regulatory and educational gaps were identified as causes of crashes.

The meeting also identified some key factors that could be causing road crashes, such as a lack of adequate road signs and bad road structures.

“Poor traffic light infrastructure, overloading, drivers’ complacency, underage drivers operating articulated vehicles. 

“Alcohol and illicit drug abuse, extra lights on trucks, covering up of bad behaviours by unions, lack of road education, poor education, traffic discipline and lane indiscipline, among others,“ it stated.

The meeting resolved that by addressing these critical factors, stakeholders could work together to reduce the incidence of road traffic crashes and ensure safer roads for all users.

It stated that the collaborative effort was crucial in achieving the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 goal of halving road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030.

It also stated that the key areas of collaboration would be enhanced enforcement, public awareness campaigns, driver retraining programs, vehicle maintenance and infrastructure upgrades.

(NAN)