Easter: FRSC urges safety consciousness among passengers

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has called for high safety consciousness among road users, especially passengers, during the Easter holiday.
The Corps Public Education Officer, Mr Bisi Kazeem, made the call in Abuja on Wednesday.
Kazeem said the advice became necessary in view of an expected upsurge in vehicular and human traffic on the nation’s highways within the period and attendant rise in the rate of accidents.
He urged passengers to be vigilant and alive to their responsibilities as outlined in the Road Transport Safety Standardisation Scheme (RTSSS).
“As a passenger, please do not be passive, be active. You can stop that driver before he kills you.
“You have every right to check whether the driver who is about to take you has a mechanically deficient vehicle or whether he is carrying fuel in jerry cans in the vehicle, and do what is known as passenger’s watch.
“Always check the driver (while in transit) and if he doesn’t heed to your check, pull him over and make sure that law enforcement agencies are able to track him down and probably discipline him, or at worst alight from that vehicle.’’
Kazeem said the FRSC had fully mobilised for the 2018 Easter Special Patrol exercise, which kicks off nationwide on Wednesday, aimed at effective preventive and rescue operations.
While soliciting the cooperation and support of motorists and passengers with the FRSC for a successful exercise, he urged them to report any bad egg in the Corps to the appropriate authorities.
“It is very imperative for you to take note immediately of the code in the vehicle if you see somebody (FRSC marshal) with corruptive tendency or that is misbehaving.
“Check his name tag quickly and report such a person to the nearest sector commander or at worst get the Corps Public Education Officer in Abuja or the Deputy Corps marshal in charge of operations, and report such people.
“My email address as the Corps Public Education Officer is [email protected], while that of the Deputy Corps Marshal (Operations) is ow.ewhrujakpor @frsc.gov.ng.’’
Under the RTSSS, passengers are expected to report drivers’ misbehavior in the areas of speeding, dangerous driving, drunk driving, among others, to fleet operators and law enforcement agents.
They are required to chec​k and ensure that the telephone numbers of the contact persons (safety managers) are written on a vehicle before boarding.
Passengers are also expected to comply with the provisions of the Passenger Manifest Scheme by providing requisite information about themselves in the manifest.
It is their responsibility to confirm that the operation of the transport company is RTSSS compliant, and refuse to be overloaded in a vehicle.
They are also expected to look for compliance stickers on the vehicles among other standard requirements, before boarding such vehicles.
Only vehicles that have been inspected by the FRSC and found to be roadworthy attract “RTSSS Compliance Stickers, according to the document.
The RTSSS also came with a list of conducts or actions which passengers should not engage in while in transit.
They include willful obstruction of the driver or conductor in the exercise of their duty, and engaging the driver in conversation.
Passengers are also forbidden from smoking or carrying a lighted pipe, cigar or cigarette in any part of the vehicle whether or not a notice prohibiting smoking is exhibited in the vehicle.
The rule prohibits the sale or offer for sale or distribution of any goods or any printed material of description by passengers.
It is an offence for passengers to throw any article from any part of a moving vehicle, or sell/consume alcoholic drinks in the vehicles, among others.