Ondo: 156 killed in road accidents in ten months

The Ondo State Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has disclosed that 251 road traffic accidents which claimed 156 lives were recorded in the state between January and October this year.

The State Sector Commander of the Corps, Mr. Rotimi Adeleye, who disclosed this in Akure, Ondo State capital, identified some notable black spots in the state which are prone to accident.

Adeleye listed the black spots to include, Ore junction, Ajebandele, Oke Alamojuto in Ikare, Oka, Epinmi, Owo junction, saying the command would give more attention to these areas during the festive period.

According to him, about 104 crashes and 65 deaths were recorded in the first quarter, 68 crashes and 47 deaths in the second quarter while 79 accidents and 44 deaths were recorded in the third quarter.

The FRSC boss attributed the increase in the rate of road accidents in the third quarter to the heavy rain recorded during the raining season but assured that the commission has put some measures in place to reduce road accidents in the fourth quarter.

He highlighted some of the preventive measures put in place by the corps to include drafting of more FRSC officials to the road to orientate and advise motorists on the need to keep to the traffic laws.

He said this would go a long way to reduce road accidents, especially during the festive period.

ALSO READ: Child Rights Act: UNICEF laments non-domestication by 11 Northern states 

He said, “the fourth quarter happens to be the Yuletide period, which obviously on yearly basis, is the period that we believe that we do more of enlightenment, we do more of visibility, we do more of enforcement and more of putting all machinery in place in preparation for Christmas and the New Year festivities.

“Obviously, it is observed that we have more vehicular movement during the fourth quarter. This year 2019, coming Operation Zero Tolerance, which is our usual code name for a special operation, we are lucky because we have more manpower; that is one advantage for us.

“As at this time last year, our manpower was not as much as we have now. The Federal Road Safety Corps just injected some new staff into the system mid this year and this has given us an advantage of having more men to do the bulk of work we have on the ground.

“Also, we intend to establish camps. Apart from the staff we have in all the commands, we also intend to have two different camps where officers and men will be posted, just for this Yuletide period. We are going to establish a camp in Ikare and another in Ore,” he disclosed.

Adeleye said the two camps will take care of road crashes and gridlocks within each of their jurisdictions that had been strategically mapped out.

He, however, appealed to the members of the public to always report reckless drivers to law enforcement agents, urging motorists to drive carefully and avoid overspeeding, saying, “life is irreplaceable, life has no spare parts.”