275 die in auto crashes in one month

The Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC has revealed that 275  perished in auto crashes nationwide, between December 2018 and January 15,2019.

The  Corps Marshal of the FRSC,  Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, in his review of the 2018 special end of year patrol tagged  ‘Operation Zero Tolerance for Road Traffic Crashes’, which commenced between December  20, 2018  and January 15, 2019 said  that accident reduced with 18.6 percent.

He said  Operation Zero Tolerance for Road Traffic Crashes is an annual special end of year patrol undertaken by the FRSC to address the perennial challenges of road obstruction, gridlocks, crashes and death experienced during the Yuletide periods, across the country. 
The number  of people killed during the recent end of year special patrol   according to Oyeyemi, dropped from 338 in 2017 to 275 in 2018 with a difference of 63 representing 18.6%. 

However, the report showed an increase in involvement of children in auto crashes  in 2018.
A total of 393 children according to the report, were involved in auto crashes in 2018 as against 350 in 2017, with a difference of 43 representing 12% increase. 
Furthermore, it showed that while 24 children were killed in 2017, the number increased to 29 in 2018 with a difference of five representing 21% increase.
For instance, while a total of 540 crashes were recorded in 2017 as against 542 in 2018 representing 0.4% increase, the number of people involved reduced from 4,418 in 2017 to 4,375 in 2018 which showed  a difference of 43 representing 1% reduction, he said.

Oyeyemi further stated that “The total number of people rescued without injury within the period in 2018 was 2,136 as against 2,041 in 2017, an increase of 95 persons representing 4.6%. 
“In the same vein, the total number of people injured in 2018 were 1,964 as against 2,040 recorded in 2017 which was a difference of 376 representing 18.6% reduction ,” the Corps Marshal revealed.
The report   also revealed that the  highest number of casualties recorded during the period under review, occurred in Darazo Local Government Area of Bauchi, in which   16 lives perished.  There were also five auto crashes in the same  local government which claimed 29 lives.  

Oyeyemi noted that : “The most frequent offences within the period of the patrol were Seat belt violation, Tyre violation, riding motorcycle without helmets and violation against use of Speed limit devices”.
Expressing sadness over the  increased   number of children involved and killed in the auto crashes during the period under review,  Oyeyemi, said it was imperative that the organisation puts in place necessary measures to curb the incidents.