The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) says it recorded 1,183 casualties from 362 road accidents in Benue in 2015. Its sector Commander, Mr Chidi Nkwonta, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview on Wednesday in Makurdi that the figure represented only reported road crashes. He said out of the casualty figure, 175 victims were reported dead, while 108 people suffered several degrees of injury. Nkwonta attributed the cause of road crashes to several factors, including over speeding, dangerous driving, wrongful overtaking, use of phone, loss of control and route violations. According to him, out of all the causes, over speeding accounted for the highest percentage of accidents in the state. He said 648 vehicles were involved in the accidents while 1,150 people were involved. The sector commander said the commission impounded 1,423 vehicles while 1,377 others were confiscated on account of various traffic violations. He disclosed that most of the crashes happened between the months of April and August, while fewer accidents happened during the last four months of the year. Nkwonta criticised commercial vehicle drivers, especially those who plied the Makurdi-Gboko road for recklessness. He described them as the “worst culprits of traffic regulations after the Okada riders in the state”. Besides, he said Okada frequently violate traffic regulations, saying “out of every 10 accidents in the state, five of them are caused by Okada riders”. He noted that the leadership of the motorcycle operators were not cooperating with the commission to educate their members on the sanctity of traffic regulations. “They are the most uncooperative union that we have in the state; they don’t respond to our invitations for educational programmes, in fact it is difficult to get them in one place.” However, he assured that the State Government was now committed in getting the Okada operators obtain licenses for their motorcycles to make it easier to track them in case of emergencies.
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