Our Correspondent
Daily Courier – The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has said the Commission would be stepping up its collaborative intervention with the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and on many fronts, including advocacy and public enlightenment to reduce road traffic fatalities caused by articulated vehicles.
The FCCPC said partnerships are effectively the back-bone for successful road safety achievements.
Chief executive officer, FCCPC, Babatunde Irukera, made this known during the one-day joint stakeholder forum in Abuja with the theme: “Safe Transport Operations for the Sustainable Use of Roads in Nigeria.“
Irukera, who noted that articulated vehicle drivers are complicit for several carnages recorded on most roads in the country, said they are mostly notorious for the sloppy manner they function especially in flouting traffic rules and regulations.
This, he said, has reinforced the need to protect the safety and welfare of consumers.
The FCCPC helmsman also said that while the body counts from truck accidents keep mounting, most of these tragedies can be avoided by simple common sense and inexpensive remedial interventions.
“If citizens self-regulate and comply with the law, road accidents will be drastically reduced.
“I don’t think we need parliament to agree by consensus that we needlessly lose people to road accidents.
“Sixty per cent of the vehicles are in Africa and other developing countries. and 93 per cent of deaths attributed to traffic accidents occur in the same region,” he said.
Citing statistics, Irukera said accidents in Ogun State alone in the first nine months of 2021, involved 441 articulated vehicles, accounting for 60 per cent of accidents in that same region in 2021.
“This was one of those things that fundamentally affects society,” he added, stating that it will require the commitment of all relevant stakeholders to address the threat of tanker and trailer accidents.
He advised that emergency response to protect victims of traffic accidents and consumers in the country should be given priority.
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