The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has stated that a total of 2,850 lives were lost to road mishaps within the first half of 2023.
This was contained in a statement released by the Assistant Corps Marshal and Corps Public Education Officer, ACM Bisi Kazeem, in Abuja.
According to the FRSC statement, 5,700 crashes occurred in the first half of 2023.
The Corps said that there is a 14 per cent reduction in crashes when compared with that of last year while there is a 15 per cent reduction as well in the number of those who died from these accidents.
It also said that 16,716 were recorded as being injured and rescued from accidents within this period as against 19,440 rescued in 2022, leaving behind a 14 per cent reduction.
The statement read, “In what could be tagged a successful outing in the operational front during the first six months of the year 2023, the Federal Road Safety Corps has recorded a decline in the total number of road traffic crashes, the total number of injuries and fatalities as well, when compared with the same period in 2022.
“According to the FRSC road traffic crash dashboard, within the period under consideration, the Corps recorded a total of 5,700 road traffic crashes as against 6,627 in the same period in the year 2022, representing a 14 per cent decrease.
“In the same vein, from January to June 2023, the Corps also achieved a 14 per cent reduction in the number of people rescued with injuries, having rescued a total of 16,716 in 2023 against 19,440 injured victims in the first half of the year 2022.
“On the number of people killed, the Corps also recorded a significant reduction within the operational period. According to the crash data report, in the first six months of the year 2023, the Corps recorded a total of 2,850 fatalities as against 3,375 in the same period in 2022, representing a 15.5 per cent reduction.
“The Corps Marshal attributed this modest achievement to a number of strategies and innovations in enforcement activities, improved presence and visibility, public enlightenment and partners’ engagement.”
While charging drivers to desist from bad driving behaviours, Corps Marshal Dauda Ali Biu re-emphasised the commitment of the Corps towards achieving its corporate mandate of sanitising the highways and entrenching safety on the nation over 200,000 kilometers road network.