Road crashes took 1,441 lives on Nigerian roads between January and March.

The victims were killed in 2,733 crashes in which 8,339 other persons were injured, Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Mr Dauda Biu, said on Tuesday in Abuja.

He was addressing a one-day stakeholders meeting on the development and implementation of policy on pre-fitted speed limiting devices in locally-assembled and imported vehicles.

“The most worrisome part is that more than 89 per cent of the crashes were speed-induced,’’ he said.

He noted that Nigeria was not alone as over-speeding had contributed to a high number of road fatalities globally.

“In Nigeria, the picture is not different from global experience as speed emerges as the highest contributory factor of road crashes, injuries and deaths.

“This observation led the FRSC to begin to search for a lasting solution having observed that behavioural and attitudinal change methods alone cannot bring the desired result.

“Today, we are complying with the UN Decade of Action (2021-2030) on approach to road safety, particularly as it relates to safer vehicles.

“It is assured that if we have good mobility through design and manufacturing of vehicles, crashes will reduce on our roads,’’ Mr Biu said.

He explained fatalities from road crashes had engendered global action and campaigns for mitigation.

He added that the strategy was to apply technology that was cost-effective and adoptable with capacity to regulate speed to national thresholds.

This, he said, brought about speed-limiting device installation in vehicles.

Biu expressed regret that attempts made in the past to enforce the policy on the installation of speed-limiting devices in commercial vehicles witnessed several postponements.

He explained that President Muhammadu Buhari approved the policy on April 1, 2016 by but the need advocacy delayed its implementation up to Oct. 1, 2016.

Biu noted that between Oct. 1, 2016, and April 30, 2023, only 173,573 vehicles had been installed with speed limiters.

“A large number of registered vehicles in Nigeria are yet to comply; this is unacceptable; hence the urgent need for this very policy.

“The FRSC has proposed the development and implementation of pre-fitted, speed-limiting device for all vehicles assembled in Nigeria and those imported into the country,’’ Mr Biu stressed.

(NAN)