From Judex Okoro, Calabar
The Cross Cross River Federal Road Safety Commission’s Sector (FRSC) Sector Commander, Elizabeth Akinlade, has stated that their goal for 2022 is to reduce road crashes in Cross River by 15 per cent.
Akinlade, who made this disclosure when the command paid a courtesy visit to the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Cross River Council in Calabar on Tuesday, said auch could be achieved through aggressive media campaigns and cooperation from the public.
According to her, “we have lost a lot of people especially breadwinners some of whom have been rendered incapacitated, that is why we continue to urge the media to to help us push the message of defensive driving to the public.”
On the issue of number plates, the sector commander warned Nigerians against selling their cars with their number plates to avoid falling inot trouble with people of with questionable characters unknown to them.
She said: “The Corps has a data bank of the original owners of the vehicles in the society adding that when a car is sold the new buyer ought to carryout a change of ownership.
“Therefore, not changing the ownership means that the original owner of the vehicle would be held responsible if the vehicle is used to perpetuate a crime after it had been sold.
“So, don’t sell your vehicle with the plate number because in our data bank, the name of the original owner of the vehicle including his address is stored.
“If the vehicle is used to carryout a crime, with the information in our data bank, the original owner may be arrested even if he knows nothing about the crime but sold the car with the plate number.
“One of our strategic goal is to have a robust data-bank because without data you may not be able to do much,” stated Akinlade, who took over from Corps Commander Ocheja Ameh.
In his remarks, Mr Victor Udu Chairman of the NUJ, Cross River Council, commended the sector commander for her visit while urging the command to make the process of getting vehicle licence easy
He however appealed to members of the public to ensure that their papers are up-to-date and their vehicles in good condition, especially their tyres, side mirrors, rear glasses to minimise altercations with FRSC officials.
“If we do what the law says we will have less fictions with FRSC and whenever they stop you for breaking the law, be gentle enough to appeal to them and not claim right,” he said.