Drug abuse, major cause of road crashes – FRSC

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has identified drug abuse as one of the major causes of road crashes in Nigeria.

Chief Inspector Atese Ben, at a sensitization programme for commercial drivers in Kaduna, said drug intake impairs the vision of a driver, thereby causing him/ her to misjudge distance. He said in some instances, it could make a driver sleep off while on the wheels.

“Accidents on our roads can be traced to drug abuse. A drug related crime can also disrupt neighbourhoods due to violence among the dealers. Other societal effects include cultism in schools, divorce, high rate of school dropouts and destruction, joblessness and loss of skilled manpower, terrorism among others,” he said.

The Corps Marshal and Chief Executive, FRSC, Boboye Oyeyemi, on his part, said the corps had introduced speed limit device for vehicles operating in the country and that enforcement of the law would commence on commercial vehicles on September 1, 2015.

Represented by the Deputy Corps Marshal in charge of operations, Adei Abu, Oyeyemi called on relevant stakeholders to work with the corps in tackling the accidents on the roads.

“Despite the drastic reductions in road crashes, FRSC is still not satisfied. Rather, we are stepping up the campaign to get to a level where road traffic crashes would not lead to death. It is due to the role speeding plays in road crashes in the country that stakeholders resolved after exhaustive deliberations to introduce speed limiting device for vehicles,” he said.