85 die in Edo autocrashes in 6 months

Eighty-six people have died in various accidents that happened across Edo State between January and June this year.

The Edo State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Henry Benamaisia, gave the figure yesterday in Benin in an interview with our reporter on the crashes within the period under review.

He said “a total of 717 persons were involved in the accidents that happened in the state and that 85 died while 279 were injured.

“Twenty-four persons died in the month of January, 13 died in February, 14 in March, 19 in April, four in May while 11 died in June bringing the total number of deaths recorded in the period under review to 85”.

The Sector commander attributed the crashes to impatience, indiscipline, and intolerance by motorists on the road.

He said to reduce accidents on the roads in the state, the corps was airing public enlightenment programmes on radio and it has also ensured the visibility of its officials on the highways while crash spots and accident-prone areas have motorised patrol vans moving round the areas.

“We have noted that most of the accidents are as a result of over-speeding and route violation, so we have to station two of our marshals using flags to caution motorists against speeding on the highway.

He added that the measures have helped in reducing crashes on the roads, especially AgbedeEwu hill on the Benin-Auchi road.

Benamaisia, who said the corps has also trained stakeholders such as members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), RTEAN and NUPENG on safety on the road, advised motorists to always obey traffic rules and regulations.

He, however, identified inadequate operational tools as one of the challenges hindering the corps operation.