By; MOHAMMED KAWU, Bauchi.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has said that it will today (Wednesday) begin the enforcement of installation of the speed limiting devices in commercial vehicles.
The Zonal Commanding Officer, FRSC, Zone 12, Assistant Corps Marshall, Peter Kibo, Tuesday in Bauchi called on drivers in the zone comprising of Borno, Yobe and Bauchi states to comply as defaulters will not be spared.
He said: “As from tomorrow, February 1st, 2017 we will begin full implementation of the installation of speed limiting devices in commercial vehicles.
“We will begin the enforcement of this policy tomorrow and any commercial vehicle we see without this device, we will impound such because it will be an offense. And when we impound such vehicle, we will not release it until the device is installed”.
Kibo, who explained that the policy for the installation of the device is aimed at reducing over speeding by commercial drivers, as the policy will directly reduce deaths caused by accidents.
“We have discovered that the major cause of accidents on our roads is over speeding. It is as a result of this that the speed limiting device was introduced to reduce speed in vehicles. If this is successfully achieved, I assure you, many lives will be saved because accidents would have been reduced drastically,” he said.
The Zonal Commanding Officer stated that the FRSC has been holding consultations with major stakeholders like National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), the National Union of Road Transport Owners (NURTW), among others, to intimate them on the importance of the policy.
Assistant Corps Marshall Kibo said despite claim by the commercial drivers that the device is very expensive, installing the device is worth it.
“All through our campaigns, we have never claimed to the people responsible for this device, neither have we been a party to the sale of this
Device. All we want to emphasize is that there is no cost too much to the cost of one life”
Marshal Peter Kibo called on commercial drivers to comply with the policy, and advised passengers to ensure that any vehicle they will board for any journey has the speed limiting device.
“They can know whether or not a vehicle has this device by sending a text with the message: VERIFY Plate Number, which they should send to 33180 irrespective of the mobile network or phone they have,” he said.
