Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Benue State Command has disclosed that 86 persons have lost their lives in different road traffic crashes (RTC) across the state while 932 sustained various degrees of injuries.
The sector commander FRSC Yakubu Mohammad, who disclosed this during the commemoration of 2021 World Day for Remembrance of Road Traffic Victims held in Makurdi attributed the crashes to over speeding.
According to him, 433 crashes were recorded from 2020 to the 3rd quarters of 2021. The sector commander who frowned at the frequent crashes in the state called on vehicle owners to ensure the installation of speed limit device to regulate their speed, even as he warned that anyone caught operating without the device will be sanctioned according to the law.
Giving a breakdown of road traffic crashes in 2020 the sector commander said statistics for road crashes within the period showed that 337 crashes were recorded out of which 70 people died while 800 sustained various degrees of injuries.
He added that in the 3rd quarter of 2021 the number of crashes recorded so far is 66, with 16 deaths while 132 sustained various degrees of injuries.
He disclosed that road traffic crashes are the 8th leading cause of death worldwide, adding that the World Health Organisation has estimated that 1.2 million people died in road traffic crashes across the globe with 50 million suffering from various degrees of injuries annually.
The corps commander explained that, the aim of the remembrance day for crash victims which is commemorated every 3rd week of November each year is to sympathise and give courage to the families of victims of RTC with a view to proffering solutions to the menace.
