Reps move to check petrol tanker accidents •Over 300 lives lost, 750 injured on highways in 2016

Mayowa Okekale, Abuja. |8th Feb 2017 | 2,357

Scene of a petrol tanker accident

About 306 people lost their lives to accidents involving petrol tankers and trailers in 2016, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has said. He added that 750 others sustained various degrees of injuries while explaining that there should be urgent intervention by the House of Representatives to ensure that such incidents are reduced to the barest minimum. Dogara on Tuesday made the disclosure while declaring open a public hearing on the need for government to address the menace of accidents involving fuel tankers. He expressed concern that despite legislations and concerted efforts by agencies of government, road traffic unions and associations to halt accidents involving articulated vehicles like trailers and tankers on major highways across the country, they still contribute to a huge number of deaths on Nigerian roads.

He stated: “Reports from the FRSC indicate that between January and December 2016, petrol tanker/trailers were involved in at least 338 cases of road traffic crashes, consisting of 306 deaths and 750 others with various degrees of injuries.

“The tasks before the ad-hoc Committee is to find out the causes of the accidents involving fuel tankers and other articulated vehicles. Whether they are as a result of the design of our roads, the vehicles, human errors, recklessness or mental state of the drivers and to liaise with relevant stakeholders to fashion out ways of reducing, in the short-run and ultimately eliminating these destructive accidents which are claiming unquantifiable number of lives and property across the country.”

The Speaker expressed optimism that the enforcement of speed limit, which the parliament approved last year, will reduce the number of accidents and make Nigerian roads safer to ply, while the National Assembly works towards achieving Nigeria’s vision of becoming one of the 20th safest countries, in terms of road transportation and mobility, by 2020 and meeting the UN decade of Action of reducing road crash record by at least half by 2020.

He said: “On its part, the House had last year, approved the installation of speed limiting devices on commercial and fleet vehicles and is waiting for the take off and the anticipated reduction in the number of carnages on the highways. Road safety is a dynamic field and the National Assembly is poised to providing the institutional framework for safer mobility, roads, vehicles and post-crash care through increased budgetary allocation to the relevant sectors. These include those with the mandate for construction and maintenance of roads as well as increased co-operation between government and non-governmental organisation for the proper utilisation and overall safety of road users.

“I am pleased to state that as a legislature, we have put in place deliberate measures to achieve a vision of becoming one of the 20th safest countries, in terms of road transportation and mobility, by 2020 and meeting the UN decade of Action of reducing road crash record by at least half by 2020.”