683 accidents, 59 deaths recorded in Lagos State in one year – Commissioner

The Lagos State Ministry of Transportation on Friday said it recorded 683 accidents involving 59 deaths between May 2015 and April 2016 in the state.

The Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Dayo Mobereola, who disclosed during the ministerial briefing in Ikeja, added that the crashes involved 1,215 passengers of commercial, private and government-owned vehicles.

Mobereola said 153 of the victims sustained serious injuries, while 464 sustained minor ones.

He said: “We track crashes and investigate them so that we can mitigate and prevent future recurrence.

“We note the decline in fatalities, which is as a result of increased enforcement, public advocacy and improvement in road infrastructure.”

The Commissioner said failure of drivers to adhere to traffic regulations occasioned the accidents.

Mobereola urged drivers to always visit the state’s Drivers’ Institute for retraining to ensure their safety and that of their passengers.

He said: “All professional drivers must be retrained on yearly basis.

“No fewer than 65,932 drivers are currently undergoing training in the state.”

According to him, the ministry has identified 450 locations for installation of traffic signal lights, while efforts have been made to complete 120 locations.

Mobereola said the state government had recruited and trained 1,200 personnel of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority and had purchased appropriate equipment for crash management.