1,569 children in road crashes between September and December 2013 – FRSC

Worried by the increasing number of road crashes involving children who are driven in the front seat by their parents, the FRSC partnered the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), among other key stakeholders, to educate parents and children on the dangers of carrying children in the front seat.Sunday Trust gathered that the partnership became necessary […]

Worried by the increasing number of road crashes involving children who are driven in the front seat by their parents, the FRSC partnered the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), among other key stakeholders, to educate parents and children on the dangers of carrying children in the front seat.
Sunday Trust gathered that the partnership became necessary in view of the connection between the road, the automobile and the people.
The Kaduna State sector commander, Francis Udoma, said a joint committee of the FRSC and NSE was constituted for the purpose of enlightening the public, as well as enforcing the use of appropriate car restraints for children.
According to Udoma, the children’s safety campaign was in tandem with the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the National Child Rights Act, the MDGs target on the reduction of child mortality, and the United Nations decade of action on road safety.
“The safety of our children is a collective responsibility, but in a motor vehicle, it is the sole responsibility of parents. We must be willing to carry this out with interest because they cannot protect themselves against road dangers,” Udoma stated.
Also speaking, representative of the NSE, Engineer Austin Okolo, said the involvement of the engineers was to ensure safety while people drive. He added that the NSE was involved in everything concerning a vehicle because of its concern for people’s lives.
He stressed that car designers always put safety first in their manufacturing works; hence the end users should adhere to safety instructions.
In her view, chairperson of the Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria, Kaduna State chapter, Engineer Amamat Haruna, said it was high time parents woke up to their responsibilities, saying the avoidable deaths of Nigerian children on roads was unacceptable.