Available statistics by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has revealed that road traffic crashes claimed the lives of 4,737 people with 30,744 others sustaining various degrees of injuries between January and October 2019.
Corps Marshal of FRSC, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, made this known, on Wednesday, in Abuja, while briefing newsmen on the 2019 end of the year special patrol operations, and readiness of the Corps to ensure the free flow of traffic during the Yuletide.
He lamented that despite the progress recorded in the area of crash reduction, the rate of deaths and injuries resulting from the crashes remained unacceptable, urging all hands to be on deck to achieve greater results within the next one year.
Oyeyemi disclosed that a total of 9,698 road traffic crashes were recorded in the period under review involving 68,193 people and 63,456 rescued.
He expressed sadness that the nation had to grapple with the worrisome challenges of crashes involving trucks in the year 2019 as a total of 604 trailers and 296 tankers was involved in crashes.
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He disclosed that the Corps had embarked on aggressive enforcement and robust enlightenment from the early part of this year in line with the set target of 20 per cent reduction in the rate of crashes and 25 per cent set for the reduction of fatality rate.
He said: “The result of the comparative analysis of our data for third quarter of 2018 and 2019 shows that while 133,972 traffic offenders were apprehended in 2018, this increased to 157,678 in the same period in 2019, giving an increase of 18 per cent.
“In the same vein, while the number of traffic offences as at the third quarter of 2018 stood at 150,672, this increased to 177,763 in the same period this year, giving an increase of 18 per cent,” he said.
The Corps Marshal, however, noted that the Corps has mobilised a total of 39,450 personnel including the Special Marshals to cover all the major highways and corridors in the country.
He said this was to ensure a free flow of traffic, eradication of road traffic crashes and creating a safer motoring environment during the Christmas and New Year celebrations usually characterized by road congestions, gridlocks, road crashes with attendant loss of lives and property.
“The 2019 end of the year special operations patrol is code-named, Operation Zero Tolerance”.
Oyeyemi condemned unprovoked assaults on operatives of the Corps in line of duties, warning that the management would no longer condone such provocations from anyone and that justice would be pursued for victims of such assaults to the logical end.
He disclosed that over 77 of FRSC operatives were knocked down by recalcitrant drivers, while 10 lost their lives in the wake.
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