Rep. Abdulrazak Namdas, the Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, has defended the decision of the House to oppose the plan by the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, to introduce Speed Limiters’ Device, SLD, in the country.
The SLD, a device installed on vehicles to limit speed to a prescribed level and making further acceleration unresponsive, is expected to cut down the rate of road traffic crashes and the resultant loss of lives on the nation’s highways.
It would be recalled that the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, had pushed for the enforcement of the SLD which is to commence in April.
Ahead of the enforcement, however, the Commission had begun a sensitisation campaign for commercial drivers on the need for installation of the device.
Following the development, Namdas, in a chat with The Punch, said the motion was ‘populist’ in nature.
According to him, “The fact that there is high incidence of accidents on our highways does not mean we should adopt outdated technology to curb accidents. The speed limiters we were told, can only be used on vehicles that have injectors, not carburetors.
“This is not good because criminals can take advantage of it. The part of it is that you ask, what happens to other vehicles that do not use injectors? Are those vehicles free to kill Nigerians? The truth is that even if there is need for speed limiters, it should be restricted to commercial and passenger buses, not private vehicles.
“My argument is that even if the Federal Road Safety Corps wants to introduce speed limiters, it should introduce modern technologies. Speed limiters are not in this category. The ones the FRSC wants to introduce are outdated.
“We are saying that Nigeria should not be reduced to a dumping ground. We should not be the final destination of technologies that were tried and had failed elsewhere. And more important, they want to impose the device on both private and commercial vehicles.
“I think there are a lot of things that we need to put in place that will reduce speed. They include road signs and markings, among others. Besides providing such road infrastructure, motorists should be educated on how to identify them (road signs) and what to do to observe them.
“I think we can reduce road accidents is by constant enlightenment and education of drivers about road signs and the use of seat belts and not by enforcing SLD. The three tiers of government also need to cooperate with the FRSC by providing road signs on the highways and other infrastructure that can assist in reducing accidents.
“My understanding is that there are certain things that will help the FRSC in its operations, but the power to execute those things are either in the Ministry of Works or other agencies. We will require a holistic approach to solve the problem of road accidents.
“Nigerians will heed the call because this opposition is in their interest. We will require spider technology or modern speed limiters as the case may be. The House is not opposing measures to limit excessive speeding, we are saying don’t bring a technology that is outdated. The point is simple enough.
“Our resolution urging the agency to suspend the introduction of the speed limiters is in national interest. Our committee is doing its job,” Namdas averred.
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