The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), in Bauchi state, on Monday advocated for a speed limit of 30 kilometers per hour in urban or built up areas for all categories of vehicles in the state.
The recommendation is contained in a statement by Mr Yusuf Abdullahi, the Bauchi Sector Commander, and made available to newsmen by Mr Rilwanu Suleimanu, the FRSC Public Relations Officer in the State.
According to the statement, the corps observed that speeding was responsible for about 30 percent of crashes in Nigeria.
Abdullahi explained that the corps would be using the 6th United Nations Global Road Safety Week, which will run from 17 to 23 May, 2021, to carry out an advocacy programme where people in the state would be educated on the issue.
“The 6th UN Global Road Safety Week will focus on the issue of speed.
“The Week advocates for safer streets motoring by making 30 km/h speed limits, the norm for cities worldwide in places where people mix with traffic.
“The Week is concerned about policy commitments at national and local levels to deliver the 30 km/h speed limits in urban areas and to generate local support for such low speed measures in order to create safe, healthy traffic flow within Urban cities globally.
“As a lead agency in Road Safety Management and administration in Nigeria, FRSC is hosting the event and embarks on nationwide advocacy to replicate this global activity in selected Nigerian Cities.
“Pursuant to this, the Bauchi State command of the FRSC organises public education campaign programmes to inculcate the norm of 30km/hr speed limits among road users,” he said.
He called on the general motoring public to always adhere to the maximum legal speed limit while in the city or in built up areas so as to prevent crashes, its attendant injuries as well as its fatalities.
Abdullahi, who further stressed the need to avoid speeding which was considered among the critical traffic violations with high risk factor, said speeding leads to increase in the degree of crash severity, resulting in more fatalities or injuries.
The sector commander explained that more damage is caused to vehicles involved in speeding when they crash, thereby increasing the likelihood of such vehicles not drivable after crash.
“Speeding also leads to extra fuel consumption and frequent replacement of auto parts, among others,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Public advocacy programme would include media charts, road shows, visits to hospitals and advocacy visits to stakeholders, including policy makers and others.