The Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC), has advised owners of luxurious buses to assign two drivers to vehicles on long journeys to prevent accidents resulting from fatigue.
Mr Charles Badooleng, Assistant Corps Commander in charge of Hawan Kibo unit of the corps in Plateau, gave the advice on Saturday in Hawan Kibo, a hilly area in Riyom Local Government of the state.
Badooleng, who spoke at the official flag-off of the 2018 ’ember months operations, said that two drivers in long journey vehicle had become necessary because drivers were overworked with little time to rest.
“One driver can travel from the north to Lagos and will be expected to return to the same route the next day. This is very risky and has been found to be largely responsible for road crashes,” he said.
The FRSC officer said that the situation was usually worse during the ’ember months with transport companies struggling to make as much money as possible.
He also advised drivers to rest well before embarking on long journeys and adhere to all traffic regulations, and also counseled passengers to always be observant of what their drivers were doing on the highway.
The Unit Commander said that all the 84 personnel in his unit had been deployed to ensure motorists conformed to traffic regulations, adding that the corps was organising campaigns against drunk driving and fatigue driving.
Speaking at the event, Mr Slaku Lugard, the Zonal Coordinator (North Central Zone), of NEMA, said that the exercise was part of efforts to minimise road crashes and assist FRSC during emergency situations.
“The exercise is to provide support for prompt response to road traffic crashes incidents. Sadly, these crashes often lead to loss of lives, valuables and properties causing hardship to many families,“ he said.
He said that NEMA, as a critical stakeholder in disaster management, was working with FRSC to fashion out strategies to mitigate and prevent road mishaps, especially during the ’ember months.
He said that the annual operation was to augment the efforts of FRSC through assisting them with more personnel during emergencies.
“We assist by releasing our officials to join FRSC during this exercise to help reduce crashes; we also give them our ambulance to convey accident victims,” he said.
He charged motorists to be patient when driving, and advised them to ensure that their vehicles were road worthy before embarking on any journey. (NAN)