72 lives lost, 575 others injured in Bauchi road crashes

72 people died while 575 sustained various degrees of injuries in different road crashes across Bauchi State within a span of five months.

The crashes according to the Statistics of the Road Traffic Crashes released by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Bauchi State Sector Command occurred between January and May 2018.‎

According to the statistics there were 141 crashes involving 188 vehicles and 942 people and 188 vehicles within the period.

It also indicated that out of the accidents, 39 were fatal, 89 injurious while eight were minor.

Shedding more light on behalf of the Sector Commander, Abubakar Najume, the FRSC Head of Operations, Paul Gur, said that since the beginning of the rain, the Corps has embarked on campaigns to sensitize motorists on precautionary measures while driving especially during the season.

He urges the media to support FRSC in the campaign to help reduce road crashes in the state.‎

Gur, however, lamented the removal, erosion and destruction of road traffic signs that are provided to guide road users as well as defacing the signs by placing politicians posters on them.

“It worries us. We are so much disturbed because if any accident happens, the drivers will tell you they didn’t see anything or they didn’t know there were signs there.

“But what we do is that we have intensified our motorized patrols. We’ve identified areas we call black spots, accident-prone areas and from time to time, we monitor the activities of drivers there and we try to know what the real problem that causes accidents there,” he said.

The FRSC Head of Operations, however, informed that no accident was recorded during the Eid-el Fitir celebrations except a minor one which occurred around Kofar Gombe.

He said that the accident occurred when a driver who was on top speed knocked down some people who were going for the Eid-el Fitir prayers at about 8.30am.

“It affected 14 people but thank God, no life was lost. They were rushed to the hospital and were treated and discharged. Only one little boy who got burned when the hot water from the radiator splashed on him,” he added.

He informed that although the driver ran away, he was later arrested with the cooperation of both Bauchi and Gombe states Driver’s union after which he claimed to have had a brake failure.

He, therefore, advised drivers to always check their vehicles to ensure that they are in good condition warning that any driver caught over-speeding or over-loading will be arrested and appropriately sanctioned.

Credit: Daily Trust