No fewer than 163 persons have died in various road crashes in Ogun State between January and September 2019.
A statement from the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement (TRACE) Corps on Monday said 123 men and 40 women were the dead victims.
According to the statement signed by Cdr Ajayi Michael Babatunde, the Director, Traffic Planning, Research and Statistics, “TRACE Corps has recorded, between January and September 2019, a total number of 527 road crashes involving 134 private cars, 93 private buses, 213 commercial cars, 32 motorcycles, 5 tricycles, 143 commercial buses, 113 medium trucks and 102 heavy trucks.”
Babatunde informed that, “During the period, 3,702 persons were involved in Road Traffic Crashes, out of which 817 persons (513 males, 304 females) sustained various degrees of injuries, 163 persons(123 males, 40 females) killed and 2,722 persons were rescued unhurt due to prompt response to 416 emergency calls received by TRACE Corps.”
It was reported that 49.18% of the road crashes was caused by excessive speed, 21.09% was caused by dangerous driving, 10.38% by bad tyres, 4.16% from driving against traffic and 15.19% was caused by other causes.
The traffic regulatory agency stated further that 2,367 motor vehicles and 1,331 motorcycles were apprehended for 5,488 offences; adding that “the above report was witnessed by TRACE Corps in areas covered only.”
“Our resolve to reduce deaths and injuries on all roads in Ogun State is being pursued vigorously and relentlessly such that no traffic offender shall go unpunished.
“TRACE Corps Commander/CEO appreciates the unflinching support of the Traffic Whistle-Blowers throughout the state for their ever prompt information whenever there is any crash on our roads.
“TRACE Corps is hereby appealing to the motoring public to obey all traffic rules and remember that safety is the responsibility of all road users,” Babatunde advised.