The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says it has recorded a 30-per cent compliance by commercial vehicles in the first 40 days of the full enforcement of its speed limiter policy nationwide.
This is contained in the executive summary of the Speed Limiting Device (SLD) implementation report made available, in Abuja, on Tuesday.
The report covers the 40-day period between Feb. 1, when the FRSC began full enforcement of the installation of SLD by commercial vehicles, and March 12.
According to the report, out of 71,501 commercial vehicles checked within the period, 22,118 or 30 per cent were found to have installed the device.
The report shows that 22,785 or 31 per cent of the vehicles were booked for not installing the device, while 26,602 representing 37 per cent were cautioned.
It said a total of 177 commercial vehicle drivers appeared in mobile courts, and 7,630 vehicles impounded within the period under review.
At the state level, 67 per cent compliance rate was recorded in Edo where 1,738 vehicles installed the device out of 2,587 that were checked.
In the FCT, a total of 7,385 vehicles were checked out of which 3,646 were found with the device, representing a 49-per-cent success rate.
According to the statistics, only 1,745 vehicles or 27 per cent complied with the policy in Lagos where a total of 6,296 were checked during the period under review.
The FRSC began implementation of the speed limiter policy on Feb. 1 to address the issue of speed, blamed for 50 per cent of road accidents in the country.
The Corps believes that controlling vehicle speed would cut road accidents by 50 per cent, in addition to reducing the impact of crashes when they occur.
Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi, said the decision to begin with commercial vehicles was informed by the fact that majority of Nigerians depend on them for transportation.
Oyeyemi said 60 per cent of vehicles involved in accidents nationwide were commercial, resulting in the highest casualty figures compared to other categories of vehicles.
Spokesman of the agency, Mr. Bisi Kazeem, said that the 30 per cent success rate recorded just within 40 days was an indication that the policy was on course.
Kazeem said that the agency was determined not only to sustain the policy, but also to extend it to all categories of vehicles in due course.
He solicited the continued cooperation of Nigerians with the Corps to prevent avoidable deaths through accidents on the nation’s roads. (NAN)