The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and the accredited installers of Speed Limiting Device (SLD) on Friday reiterated their readiness for the enforcement of the device from April I, 2016.
In a press release by Bisi Kazeem, Head of Media Relations and Strategy of the FRSC, the Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi, said during the interactive session that the vendors commended the FRSC for its concerns for safety of road users. Oyeyemi said it was its commitment to issues of road safety that informed the introduction of the policy on the use of speed liming devices in the country.
The FRSC and the stakeholders, therefore, pledged to do their best to ensure that the devices are readily made available in standard forms for installation into vehicles and uploading of the information on the FRSC portal as agreed to in the agreement signed with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria before their accreditation. Oyeyemi expressed optimism about the success of the policy, noting that it could lead to drastic reduction in the rate of road traffic crashes.
Oyeyemi further stated that he called the meeting to have firsthand information about the level of preparedness of the vendors to fulfill their own part of the obligations to the public. He said FRSC has no pecuniary interests in the project, adding that its concern for safety and efficient delivery of the services to the interested drivers make it imperative that he met with them to review their level of preparedness to meet the expectations.
According to him, the earlier date set for the commencement of the enforcement was June 1, 2016, but that President Muhammadu Buhari, in his magnanimity, graciously rescheduled the new date to April 1, 2016 to enable all stakeholders put their houses in order. He implored all to work towards meeting the set date as there would be no further extension of date.
Oyeyemi said: “I have always made it clear that our studies show that speed continues to be the main cause of road traffic crashes that have been recorded in the country. “In 2014, it was particularly revealed that speed accounted for about 50.8 per cent of the causes of road traffic crashes in the country, which, if contained, could automatically reduce the rate of crashes. “That is why the relevant stakeholders in concert with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria resolved on practical measure to address the challenge by introducing speed limiting devices, which FRSC would strictly enforce based on the presidential directive.”
The representatives of the accredited companies, while expressing their commitment to the success of the policy, promised to comply with the standards set to ensure the integrity and trust upon which their companies were accredited. They further agreed on the need to sustain aggressive public enlightenment programme which would be stepped up with subtle enforcement by stakeholders as from January 1, 2016.
It would be recalled that the meeting of the vendors was called by the Corps Marshal sequel to the last stakeholders’ meeting where it was observed that for the policy not to encounter hitches, there was the need for continuous interaction with those responsible for installing the devices. It was also pointed out that such meetings could lead to proper understanding of their challenges and review of the level of their preparedness to provide the services towards making the enforcement hitch-free.
The meeting had the representatives of all the 12 accredited vendors who were given approval by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria to install the devices in the first phase of the exercise in attendance. Also in attendance were representatives from the National Automotive Design and Development Council.
