• Laments death of productive population in crashes

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has urged motorists to embrace behaviourial change and improve safety on highways as the nation approaches the peak period of vehicular movement.

Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Shehu Mohammed, gave the charge while addressing a forum of Association of Accounting Technicians West Africa (AATWA) in Lagos.

He lamented the high rate of carnage on highways in recent times, which he noted, could be reduced through deliberate action. He said: “Our road crash records revealed a traditional high rise in urban and rural mobility with an expected rise in road crash fatalities and injuries. Between December 15, 2024 and January 15, 2025, crash statistics revealed that 432 persons were killed and 2,020 persons injured out of a total of 533 reported cases.”

These figures, Mohammed observed, are not mere statistics but records from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which revealed that persons killed in road crashes are usually within the productive ages of 19 to 45.

According to him, records also revealed that the economic impact of road crashes is estimated at about two per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“Apparently, road safety is a shared responsibility and we must harness our collective effort to reduce the unwarranted carnage on our highways. As accounting technicians, it is important to be aware that road crashes occur as a result of many factors, such as poorly maintained vehicles, road environment, human factors, that is both the driver and passenger vehicles,” he said.

He, therefore, urged motorists and vehicle owners to ensure that funds approved for vehicle maintenance, safety checks and driver’s training are properly utilised for the purpose.