The Federal Road Safety Corps FRSC said most accidents that occur on Nigerian roads are due to driver negligence.
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The Corps’ Edo Area Commander, Cyril Mathew, disclosed this during a public assembly sensitization session on “Embers Month” in Benin City.
Mathew said the Embers Month campaign focused on passengers because statistics show that more passengers die than drivers.
He said the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics NBS records show that thousands of road fatalities are reported annually, with a significant number of the victims being passengers in commercial vehicles.
“The NBS statistics state that passengers are involved in about 63% of all road fatalities. “Most accidents are the result of the negligence of drivers who engage in dangerous behaviour on the road, thereby putting passengers at grave risk.
“A study conducted by the FRSC found that in road accidents involving professional drivers, passengers are significantly more likely to be seriously injured or killed than the driver.
“This is often due to the design of vehicles, which tend to provide more protection for drivers through safety features such as airbags. In contrast, passengers in poorly designed vehicles lacked such safety features.
“Passengers were unable to influence the driver’s decisions and were therefore exposed to the consequences of the driver’s dangerous driving behaviour,” he said.
He said the purpose of the public meeting is to educate passengers not to remain silent but to speak up to protect their lives, as the damage is even greater when vehicles carrying many passengers are involved in accidents.
The division commander said acts included excessive speeding, ignoring traffic signals, driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs, etc., and distracted driving. B. Using the phone, smoking, eating and drinking while driving are dangerous driving on the road.
He called on drivers to abide by traffic rules and regulations to reach their destinations safely.