Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, on Wednesday assured transport unions and commercial drivers of lenient approach to the final implementation the speed limiting device onOctober 1, 2016.
Oyeyemi gave the assurance at the final stakeholders’ forum prior to the commencement of enforcement of the device in commercial vehicles in Abuja.
According to him, beginning from October 1, all commercial vehicles will be subjected to guided compliance in the mode of the corps free vehicle safety checks.
Oyeyemi said: “This time around, it will be speed limiter installation checks.
“The exercise shall therefore be known as Speed Limiting Device Verification Checks and shall continue to January 2017.
“The exercise will be executed by patrol operatives nationwide where commercial vehicles will be stopped, with compliance or defiance to installation confirmed and status of vehicle entered in the FRSC data bank for record.
“Carrying through this phase, the individual commercial operators will be separated from those operating fleet.
“The data will enable the corps further steps in the right direction towards the final and strategic persuasive enforcement.”
Oyeyemi said from October, FRSC would commence the advisory enforcement for the device and have a build up to the full enforcement.
He said that after commencing this gradual enforcement on an advisory level, instalment of the device would pick up and within the next six months at least 90 per cent compliance level by all the commercial vehicles would occur.
He said the plan remained that all the intercity buses on the highways would be fitted with the device for safety on the roads.
He said the Corps would continue to recognise that communication remained a vital part to retain common understanding and the need to balance various stakeholders’ handicaps especially with the economic challenges.
Oyeyemi thanked the unions for their support in the implementation of the device
and assured them that FRSC would not rest relent on its efforts till road safety was attained fully.
Kassim Bataiya, the President of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, who spoke on behalf of the unions, thanked FRSC for adopting the advisory enforcement method.
Bataiya said the method would afford them the time to further talk to the drivers and enable them to comply gradually.
Bataiya said: “FRSC will commence advisory enforcement on the speed limiting device as from October 1, 2016 with one month grace within which there would be two weeks advice-giving and two weeks warning.
“The FRSC has promised to soft pedal the enforcement and initiate gradual compliance from October to January 2017 and we are glad.
“All the unions, including NARTO, Petroleum Tankers Drivers and National Union of Road Transport Workers, Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria have aligned and agreed with this arrangement.
“Since this concept has started, we have accepted and agreed to it; it is a very good concept to save lives beginning with commercial vehicles as the pilot exercise.”
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