Enforce speed limiting devices on private vehicles – RTEAN

According to a report in Vanguard, The Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) has advised the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to begin enforcement of speed limiting devices on private vehicles to reduce accidents.

Alhaji Musa Muhammed, RTEAN Chairman in Lagos State, gave the advice in an interview with newsmen on Wednesday in Lagos.

According to him, enforcing speed limiting devices on the private vehicles would curb speed violations causing accidents on the highways.

“Our members are professional drivers with valid drivers’ licenses; this issue of speed limiters should also apply to private vehicles because we are plying the same roads.

“Some of the private car owners are not professional drivers; majority of them learn driving in their estates within one week and after that they want to embark on long journey.

“FRSC should let the enforcement go both ways to complement one another; both should be implemented except government vehicles and the law enforcement agencies,’’ Muhammed said.

The RTEAN chairman appealed to the FRSC to review the speed limit policy to accommodate private vehicles in view of its security implications for passengers and drivers.

“Our members have experienced situations where armed robbers were chasing them on the highway; the story would have been different if the bandit car was also on speed limit devices.

“We welcome the development but we want it to go round among the motorists for safety purposes to avoid undue advantage in time of emergency, especially during the festive period,’’ he said.

In his reaction, Lagos State FRSC Sector Commander, Hyginus Omeje, said that the speed limiting devices was first introduced to commercial vehicles due to number of passengers involved.

“We want to get policy right first from the commercial vehicles and freight operators which involved many passengers.

“Any crash that happen to these commercial vehicles have multiple effects because it involved many people and families, that is why we want to establish the policy first in that sector. “We will later introduce it to other private vehicles on the road to curb recklessness on the highways,’’ he said.

NAN