The Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Abia State, Mrs Stella Uchegbu, has enjoined motorists, especially commercial drivers, to install speed limiters in their vehicles as a measure to check road traffic accidents in the country.

Mrs Uchegbu who made the call during an interview with News Express in her Asaba Road Office in Umuahia, identified over-speeding as one of the major causes of road traffic crashes in Nigeria, stressing that installing speed limiters would go a long way in reducing the carnage on Nigerian roads.

“I want to enjoin drivers and all motorists to take this issue of speed seriously. Speed thrills but it kills,” the Abia State Sector Commander said.

“I want to also advise that they should not kick against this issue of speed limiters. It was done in good fate and with the lives of the citizenry in mind. We have just got to know that the easiest way to kill the crashes is to kill speed. Immediately you kill speed, you kill crash. So, let them install speed limiters in their vehicles,” she counselled.

The FRSC chief noted that since the issue of speed limiters cropped up, “events have been showing us that there is need for it,” and enjoined all motorists to buy into the project and the programme, as “it is for their own good.”

She pointed out that the speed of a truck on the expressway should not exceed 60 km/h, while buses should not speed beyond 90 Km/h.

“The speed limiter is something they (motorists) should desire to put in their vehicles if they love their lives,” Mrs Uchegbu emphasised.

“In fact,” she said, “I will prefer that we (FRSC) do preventive enforcement, instead of going to rescue crash victims or to convey dead people to the mortuary. It hurts to see another human being there no matter how you try to put a strong face. Embarking on a journey and making it to your destination safely is the essence of travelling.”

The FRSC Commander was emphatic that the decision to speed or not was a voluntary action and choice of the driver, adding that both have consequences.

She said: “In the area of over-speeding, which is also a human behaviour, it is the driver that will choose whether to go beyond the speed limit or to go at prescribed speed limit.

“At comfortable speed limit, the driver should be able to manouevre and control his vehicle. At a comfortable speed, the driver should be relaxed, the vehicle should be relaxed and the vehicle will respond to the driver immediately.

“But when the driver is over-speeding, he is not relaxed, his vehicle is not relaxed. When he wants to apply his brake, the vehicle will still move some distance before it will answer him, and , of course, you can’t be on speed and match brake immediately and the vehicle will answer. What will happen is that the vehicle will somersault.”

The driving expert advised drivers embarking on long trips to take time off to refresh at terminals on the way to enable them to shake off fatigue and remain alert while the journey lasts, as she also identified fatigue and the condition of the roads as other factors responsible for road traffic crashes. She appealed to contractors handling dual carriage ways to expedite action in completing such road as collapsing portions of such roads into one lane has led to avoidable fatal crashes due to what she called “friction.”

•Photo shows Abia FRSC Sector Commander, Mrs Stella Uchegbu.

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