Anambra State Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has said 316 vehicles were involved in road accidents between January and September.
State Sector Commander, Mr Andrew Kumapayi, who disclosed this, yesterday, in Awka said the number of vehicles involved in accidents this year was higher than the 292 figure recorded in the first nine months of 2019.
“From the data, there was an increase in road traffic crashes this year compared to what was recorded in the previous year. Commercial vehicles took the lead. In 2019, a total of 81 commercial vehicles were involved in road crashes from January to September, while a total of 101 has been recorded within the same period in 2020.
“Trucks were next in line as a total of 68 trucks were involved in road accidents in 2019 and 61 in 2020. We also recorded 11 notable tanker crashes leading to fire explosions in 2019 and they were devastating but in 2020, we have recorded 15 tanker crashes. So far, no death has been recorded from petrol tanker crashes,” he said.
Kumapayi said the least category of vehicles involved in road accidents within the period under review were trailers, pick-up vans and cars.
The sector commander identified excessive speeding as one of the major factors responsible for road crashes in the state.
He said the corps was making efforts to reduce the rate of road crashes by 15 per cent and fatalities by 20 per cent in the state.
“The corps has initiated a strategy which includes public education, enforcement of traffic rules and regulations as well as use of mobile courts to try traffic offenders to deter likely violators,” he said.