By Soji Ajibola

Copyright tribuneonlineng

The FRSC noted that many lives would have been saved if there were health facilities within proximity of the accident scenes.

The Sector Commander, RS2.2, Ogun State, Akinwumi Fasakin, at the commissioning of the multi-million-naira RTC clinic in Ogunmakin, decried the rising death toll from crashes on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

He added that many lives would have been saved if there had been prompt access to health facilities along the way.

In line with this directive, the RS2.29 KM27 Unit Command, Ogun State, recently commissioned a multi-million-naira RTC aimed at attending to victims of road traffic crashes along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

The FRSC, according to him, has the constitutional responsibility of ensuring safety not only on the highways but on all roads in the country. Part of the measures is the establishment of RTCs at the various units.

“With this development, many lives will be saved through the prompt response of medical service providers to the victims of road crashes.

“This project (RTC) is a welcome development. It is in line with the vision of the leadership of the FRSC.”

Speaking in the same vein, the Acting Unit Commander, Phillip Gogomi, said: “The Command has recorded an alarming rate of crashes with attendant fatalities within its area of jurisdiction.

“This is because the Lagos-Ibadan expressway is one of the most densely populated with vehicular movement, making it the busiest road in the West African region. This road also perhaps has the highest number of unlicensed drivers, who, in most cases, drive dangerously.

“Another factor observed to be common with drivers on the expressway is driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, as well as operating mechanically deficient vehicles.

“It is on this background, and in compliance with the fulfilment of the FRSC 2025 Corporate Strategic Goals to achieve a 10 per cent reduction in road traffic fatalities and injuries through focused rescue intervention, that the Unit Command initiated the idea of building a clinic in this Command to mitigate the severity of crashes on our roads.

“In the past ten years, the Command has been working very hard to improve the safety of lives and property on this road, but we have yet to reach the threshold of safety.

“This is all the more reason for us to jointly work together in bringing safety to every doorstep until the entire Lagos-Ibadan expressway is completely safe for all categories of motorists.”

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