Over 12,000 lives are lost yearly on the nation’s roads to commercial motor circle (Okada) related accidents with about 30,000 seriously injured, a group, Arrive Alive Road Safety Initiative, has said.
Coordinator of the group, Mr. Ike Okonkwo, who disclosed this in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, at a road safety campaign programme, said most of the injured persons were left with permanent disability with over 70,000 families and dependents indirectly affected by these accidents.
He spoke at the second safety campaign on Truck/Motorcycle Safety: A Time for Action, in Yenagoa, sponsored by Chevron Nigerian Limited in collaboration with the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, in which safety helmets and safety devices were presented to over 1,000 commercial motorcyclists and motorists. He lamented the spate of carnage on the nation’s roads, saying the campaign was to sensitise road users on the need to be cautious.
Describing some of the accidents on the nation’s roads as avoidable, he decried situations where broken down trucks were abandoned on the roads, leading to accidents and loss of lives.
While admonishing commercial motorcyclists operating in the state to always put on their crash helmets, he said: “The helmets do not prevent accident but help protect the Okada riders and passengers from sustaining head injuries that could lead to death.”
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