The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has vowed to prosecute drunk drivers who hit pedestrians crossing the road.
The FRSC Sector Commander for Ogun State, Mr. Akinwumi Fasakin, announced this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Ota.
Fasakin’s statement came in response to an incident where a drunk driver struck two pedestrians in the Epe area of Lagos State on Saturday.
He emphasized that such reckless behaviour will not be tolerated in Ogun State.
He also noted that the FRSC had tracked and identified a hit-and-run driver who recently killed pedestrians along the Sagamu axis using the vehicle’s registration number, KJA635HY. The driver or owner of the vehicle has been declared wanted by the Nigerian Police Force.
“The FRSC is sending a warning note to drivers who engage in drunk driving, as they will be apprehended after testing positive in a sobriety test.
“In addition, the punishment for such an offence is prosecution in court,” he said.
Fasakin further stated that patrol teams have been deployed to conduct random checks on drivers across the state.
He also issued a stern warning to motorists against drinking while driving and urged them to avoid excessive speeding, which could result in needless loss of life.
What you should know
Accidents caused by driving under the influence of alcohol have led to significant loss of lives and property across the country.
According to the latest Road Transport Data from the National Bureau of Statistics for the first quarter of 2024, there were 10 reported accidents attributed to drunk driving out of the 3,512 total accidents recorded during that period, accounting for approximately 0.28% of all accidents.
While drunk driving accidents represented only 0.28% of road crashes, speed violations were the leading cause, with 2,298 cases, making up about 65.43% of all accidents. Tyre bursts followed with 224 cases (6.38%), and wrongful overtaking accounted for 209 cases (5.95%).
Other significant causes included dangerous driving with 172 cases (4.90%), route violation with 142 cases (4.04%), and brake failure with 127 cases (3.62%).
Additional causes included using a phone while driving (4 incidents, 0.11%), mechanically deficient vehicles (88 cases, 2.51%), overloading (46 cases, 1.31%), dangerous overtaking (3 cases, 0.09%), bad roads (14 cases, 0.40%), road obstruction violation (37 cases, 1.05%), sleeping on the steering (8 cases, 0.23%), poor weather (3 cases, 0.09%), fatigue (22 cases, 0.63%), sign light violation (55 cases, 1.57%), and another category classified as others (50 cases, 1.42%).
