The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has warned fleet operators against contravening road transport safety standard.
The FRSC Acting Corps Marshal, Dauda Biu, who gave the warning at the opening of the 2022 Annual Safety Managers Retreat on Thursday in Abuja, said violators would henceforth be sanctioned.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the retreat has the theme “RTSSS strategic Initiative for professionalised road safety management in Nigeria”.
Biu who was represented by Assistant Corps Marshal Rindom Kumven, said that the retreat would address critical observations made by the Corps regarding the management of fleet operations.
He said some fleet operators have consistently failed to observe safety standards thereby endangering the lives of passengers.
Biu encouraged such fleet operators to learn from their colleagues who remained compliant to set standards.
“A lot more needs to be done as safety is not a one-off thing but a sustained effort,’’ he added.
The acting corps marshal said, henceforth, non-compliant fleet operators will be served with pre-action notices for prosecution.
“Certification stickers shall be issued only for vehicles installed with functional Speed Limiting Device.
“Fleet operators who refused to allow certification teams’ access to their premises will be prosecuted and those who fail to meet certification standards twice will be suspended from operation,” he said.
Biu said that safety managers were duty-bound to ensure compliance, adding that the Corps relied on them to uphold the highest level of professionalism.
Earlier, the Corps Transport Standardisation Officer, Mr Abiodun Akinlade said that road traffic crashes involving fleet operators with consequent mass casualties was yet to be effectively contained.
Akinlade said that the Corps had observed widespread violations regarding implementation of standards, particularly non-certification of drivers and safety managers.
Others, he said, included non-availability of competent safety managers in some companies, and violation of SLD directive.
Representatives from the FCCPC, BOA, Dangote, Speed limiter vendors, public transport owners all pledged to meet road traffic safety standards.
