73,504 Nigerians die on road accidents in two years

No fewer 73, 504 Nigerians died in 3,075 accidents that occurred in the country between 2016 and 2018, Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Transportation, Dr Taiwo Salaam has disclosed.

Dr. Salaam who spoke at a press held in Lagos to flag off the Bi-annual Road Safety campaign week in the state said about 34 deaths were recorded annually in 100, 000 population samples, with more number of people with different degrees of injuries were often accounted for.

He noted that the safety week organized by the Lagos State Vehicle Services, (VIS) is designed to educate and enlighten the public on the various activities of the agency.

According to Salaam, the National Bureau of Statistics reported at least 229,524 cases of road crashes between year 2000-2018, about 12,080 annually.

He regretted that the accident deaths were impacting negatively on the socioeconomic life of the country.

“This situation has major negative impacts on the socio-economic health of the country hence there is need for a more holistic and strategic plans especially as it concerns safer vehicles and road users in line with the UN Decade of Action,” he said.

“As regards the reduction of road crashes, may I seize this opportunity to urge you to install standardised C-Caution and retro-reflective tapes on your vehicles to aid motorists visibility at night, especially when there is breakdown of vehicles on the road. I would therefore urge Lagosians to be disciplined and patient.”

Salaam noted that the initiative was in tandem with the objectives of the present administration led by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to make traffic Management and transportation one of its cardinal focus, the state government has thus decided the employment of technology in line with world best practices.

“As you are all aware that the first cardinal objective of this present administration is traffic management and transportation, which is in line with the theme’s agenda in other to achieve his goal and objectives, therefore, today marks another streamlined efforts of His Excellency, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to ensure safety of lives and properties of the citizens of the state, which has been hallmark of his administration since he assumed office.”