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From Aniekan Aniekan, Calabar
A frigate of the National Association of Seadogs covering Calabar South, Akpabuyo and Bakassi, have in partnership with the Federal Road Safety Corps have sensitized drivers against road crashes.
The sensitisation which took place at the PMT terminal in Calabar was held to raise awareness on safe driving and also educate drivers on steps to prevent road crashes.
Ubio Oviong, the president of the frigate, said they are a pressure group that identifies some challenges in the society and makes effort to address it through relevant stakeholders.
He said they are interested in the safety of drivers, the passengers they carry and need to avoid road crashes.
He emphasised that the essence of the sensitisation is to ensure that commercial drivers are sensitised so they can drive and arrive safely because they care for the drivers.
In his presentation, Ikpi Ezukwu, the Public Relations officer of the State Command of the FRSC, said that drivers are responsible for 90% of road crashes.
He explained that other factors that cause crashes include over confidence, overloading and mechanical factors.
“Human factor has to do with the driver and this is responsible for 90% of road crashes.
“A driver is expected to have a good attitude, here drivers not using seat belts, engage in distractive driving like loud conversations also predispose them to accidents.
“Also, some drivers are overconfident because they have been driving for many years, they ignore basic safety guidelines and this also causes accidents.
“Other factors like overloading and mechanical factors also cause accidents and after a vehicle has covered 80,000 km, the tyre is supposed to be changed,” he said.
He advised commercial drivers to always rest for fifteen minutes after covering a distance of four hours in order to avoid drivers fatigue.
