‘2013: A DEFINING YEAR FOR FRSC’

Last week, he addressed the media to evaluate the Corps’ yuletide special patrol in 2013 codenamed Operations Zero and projections towards achieving set targets in 2014.   The title for today’s piece is culled from his address while the contents are excerpts from his address. He opened up by stating that 2013 was a defining year […]

Last week, he addressed the media to evaluate the Corps’ yuletide special patrol in 2013 codenamed Operations Zero and projections towards achieving set targets in 2014.   The title for today’s piece is culled from his address while the contents are excerpts from his address.
He opened up by stating that 2013 was a defining year as it witnessed the transformation to world class standard in its evolution. The transformation centred on people, process and technology led to our full transition from manual to digital operations. There was also on-line verification of information bordering on vehicle number plate and driver’s license thus creating a credible tool to regulate driver behaviour on our roads as well housing data on all vehicles and their owners in the country to provide a reliable yardstick for national planning.
The year started with the award of ISO 9001:2008 quality management system certificate by the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) making us the first law enforcement agency in Africa to be certified. We also initiated an E-ticketing platform to enhance our enforcement capacity and created a database which linked road crashes to traffic offenders’ records. The database of traffic offenders and penalty point system became fully operational in 2013. The same year also witnessed the creation of an on-line platform for hospitals to report road crashes.
In 2013, despite rising crashes, FRSC rescued the highest number of road crash victims alive even in the face of increased motorization in the country. This has been bench marked as we record the time of report of a crash and time of arrival at scene. The high number of rescued victims validated our strategy of deploying ambulances on the highways code named Zebra. From 5 Zebra points in 2010, we now have 23 Zebra points along critical corridors of the highways.
The ambulance point would not have been successful without the FRSC Call Centre. The establishment of the Toll-free emergency line 122 expanded the horizon of our interface with the motoring public in the event of a road crash. Over 2,636 Closed User Group operational phone lines have been acquired and deployed to support the Call Centre operations, enhance rescue activities and internal communication. Out of these, 51 lines were distributed among Medical and Health Centres across the country to enhance post-crash care which is one of the 5 pillars of the decade of action on road safety.  Also 500 lines have been deployed on the Corps’ tracker platform to regulate and monitor its patrol vehicles.
In 2008, our advocacy was extended beyond national frontiers and culminated to a special intervention and funding programme under the auspices of the World Bank known as the Safe Corridor Project. This programme which seeks to identify some designated corridors on the highways with the aim of embarking on robust road audit , rehabilitation and installation of safety components (furniture) along such routes to ensure safer road use in Nigeria. As at today, this initiative has culminated in the acquisition of 37 patrol vehicles, 4 Heavy Duty tow trucks, 24 patrol bikes and 7 life support ambulances in addition to radar guns and breathalyzers by the World Bank. The FRSC also established a Safety Engineering Department and audited 37 major roads covering 9,292km, identified and treated 52 critical infrastructures in 6 States and concluded plans to cascade road audit to state.
For  the 2013 Operation Zero held between 19december to 12 January 2014 , we deployed 34,000 operatives and 484 patrol vehicles In addition, 53 advanced life support ambulances, 8 heavy duty tow trucks, 9 medium and light duty tow trucks and 102 patrol bikes were also deployed during this exercise while with the support of other sister agencies, we utilized helicopters for aerial surveillance as part of measures to consolidate on the Corps’ road map towards reducing road crashes during the yuletide. It is also instructive to note that our operational activities witnessed improved flow of traffic on all 23 corridors of the highways through effective route lining of FRSC operatives, reduced response time to road crashes through seamless communication network, prompt removal of obstructions and reduced travelling time for Nigerians, in line with a Presidential directive.
The record for the period in 2013 indicates that 461 crashes were recorded as against 426 in 2012. The record also indicates that 1438 were injured in 2013 as against 1415 in 2012 while the number of  people killed in 2013 stood at 252 as 244 in 2012.Further analysis indicates that 788 vehicles were involved in 2013 as against 660 in 2012 while the number of people recued alive in 2013 was 1519 as against 1866 in2012.Arrest for traffic infractions in 2013 stood at 11,808 offenders for violating 12,919 traffic offences with 1013 arraigned before the mobile court with 867 convicted with fines while 146 were acquitted.
However, to mitigate the above; in line with the UN decade of action on road safety and Accra declaration which seek 50% reduction in road crashes and fatalities, the Corps will in 2014 fast-track the enforcement on the speed limiter use on vehicles to curtail excessive speeding of commercial vehicles which will reduce crashes involving this category of vehicles by 30%.  We are also increasing the presence of FRSC operatives along critical corridors of the highways with the envisaged increase of political activities across the country.
In dealing with the challenges of attitude among road users, the Corps will intensify advocacy among road users and other relevant stakeholders. In addition, we will vigorously pursue the certification of fleet operators through the Road Transport Safety Standardization Scheme while the safety of children will form a major focus of our engagement in 2014.
 Further to this, the Corps has already initiated its strategic goals for 2014 which includes improved supervision and monitoring of the Corps’ activities across the country and scale up our capacity building (training programmes) to enhance productivity and ensure staff personal development.
In the same vein, this year will witness improved regulatory and enforcement capacity with projected target of reducing road crashes by 15% and fatalities by 25%. Under this arrangement, massive use of the breathalyzers will be promoted, strengthen the use of radar guns at critical corridors to regulate speed of motorists, increased monitoring of motor parks, implementation of the standard school bus, compulsory use of the retro-reflective tapes and rear light by commercial vehicles, among other corporate strategies. This year will also witness improved road safety audit and motor vehicle administration and improved public communication and road use education.