40,000 people die yearly from road accidents in Nigeria – FRSC

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said more than 40,000 people lose their lives every year as a result of road accidents in the country.

Corps Marshal FRSC, Dauda Biu, disclosed this in Abuja during the activities marking the seventh United Nations (UN) Global Road Safety Week.

Biu also stated that the facts were from the statistics of road traffic crashes and injuries, a leading cause of death and disability while stating that globally, 1.3 million people were killed and as many as 50 million people get injured each year.

“In Nigeria, over 40,000 persons die annually as a result of this avoidable scourge,” he said.

Biu explained that the UN came up with a global plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 as part of its effort to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries by as much as 50 per cent in the year 2030.

According to the FRSC official, this year’s edition of the event with the theme, ‘Sustainable Transport’ is slated for Monday to Sunday, May 15 to May 21, 2023.

“FRSC is partnering with the World Health Organisation, Federal Ministry of Health and United Nations Decade of Action on Road Safety and Injury Prevention to mark the event with various activities,” he said.

“The 7th UN Global Road Safety Week is focusing on sustainable transport with the slogan #RethinkMobility, which necessitates the urgent need to shift to walking, cycling and using public transport.

“The key messages of this year’s event centre on the need for governments and their partners to rethink mobility.

“Ensuring safety must be at the core of efforts to re-imagine mobility and thus road networks must be designed with the most-at-risk in mind.”

Biu further stated that people between the ages of 5–29 years are more likely to be involved in road traffic crashes, as one in every four deaths occurs among pedestrians and cyclists.

He also made an appeal that the road network must be designed in consideration of vulnerable road users.