FRSC Ota introduces mobile court, arraigns 41 offenders

The days of overloading trucks and commuter vehicles may soon be over within the Ota, Ogun State axis following the establishment by the Federal Road Safety Commission, by RS2.22 Ota Command yesterday of a mobile court in the area to tackle the menace.

The mobile court is part of the commissions efforts to achieve the Year 2016 Federal Road Safety Commission Corporate Strategic Goals in relation to reduced incidents of road crashes , improved enforcement and public education.

While briefing journalists, the Unit Commander Leye Adegboyega said the corps cannot afford to compromise its vision of eradicating road traffic crashes and creating safer motoring environment on the road.

He stressed that drivers need to be regularly reoriented and encouraged to obey traffic rules on all roads in order to reduce crashes and attendant losses on the road which he attributed majorly to overloading and over-speeding.

“FRSC has observed a flagrant disregard for regulations on loading by motorists, especially commercial vehicle drivers and the corps has constituted measures to curtail this negative trend.

Part of this is the mobile court special patrol on overloaded vehicles. Though it is always easy to blame government and the state of some roads, people tend to cause more damage by overloading their vehicles and driving excessively among other traffic violation.

“These acts are capable of affecting the driver, the vehicle and road. The corps has declared total war against overloading on our roads and once found culpable, the offender will be charged to court immediately for prosecution.

It is necessary to emphasise and educate the motorists on the need to take safety precautions very seriously while commuting as the corps will not tolerate unsafe driving practice on our roads,” he said.

The Unit Commander further said that in addition to the various efforts being made by to ensure that crashes caused by tyre bursts are reduced drastically, the unit has been embarking on advocacy visits to churches, mosques and stakeholders’ awareness campaigns coupled with the daily public enlightenments to traffic offenders and to other road users.

“The Command has been working round the clock to ensure that RTC is reduced to the barest minimum within its jurisdiction, but they need the supports of everyone. Road safety is a shared responsibility. Mobile courts will be held regularly as part of measures to continually instill discipline and curtail the excesses of drivers on the roads.”

During the mobile court exercise, drivers were advised to avoid excessive speeding, overloading, use of expired and worn out tyres, drunk driving, distractions but to cultivate the habit of maintenance and avoid driving mechanically-deficient vehicles.

At the end of the exercise, 41 offenders were arraigned with 38 convicted and three, discharged and acquitted for various offences, the most prevalent offences being overloading and tyre violation.