The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has introduced breathalyzer, a device to detect the volume of alcohol content in drivers’ body system.
Speaking during the use of the device on commercial drivers at the Bauchi motor park on Monday, Mr Yusuf Abdullahi, the FRSC Sector Commander, said any driver found to exceed the alcohol limit would have the vehicle impounded.
Abdullahi said that the device would not only serve for detection of alcohol, but any other substance that could tamper with an individual’s body system.
“If it happens in the park, we will immediately inform your executive members that this man has some level of alcohol in his body system and for that, they should take the vehicle away from him.
“The cooperation from the transport union in Bauchi state is quite commendable and the exercise has been quite fruitful.
“The device would detect anything within the system and that’s why we ask them to breathe in and breathe out during the test and by the time you breathe out the air in your body system, it would show that something is abnormal, be it drug or alcohol,” he said.
The sector commander further said that the exercise would be sustained as the machines were permanently with it road marshals, adding that the personnel would also visit parks where drivers load passengers to conduct the test.
He called on commercial drivers to abstain from taking alcohol and other substances that could affect them when behind the wheels and to always obey traffic rules and regulations.
“There are some lifestyles that cannot be co-opted into the driving profession and if you must take driving as a profession, some of those negative lifestyles that contravene the traffic profession should be dropped.
“By the time we are able to do away with those lifestyles before going into the driving profession, we will adhere strictly to the driving rules and regulations and that would go a long way in boosting our performance and aid us in our driving profession,” Abdullahi said.
The sector commander also urged passengers to always speak up whenever they realise that a driver was not obeying the traffic rules and regulations, saying this would go a long way in mitigating the level of road crashes.
Also speaking, Auwal Ibrahim, Chairman Bauchi-Kano park, Awala branch, lauded the FRSC for coming up with such a ‘life saving’ initiative.
He urged passengers in the park to always look out for the phone numbers written in their ticket to call and complain of any driver from the park, who drives recklessly.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that all the drivers tested with the device came out negative.