NGO Attributes High Rate of Road Crashes to Substandard Mechanics

An NGO, Accident Prevention and Rescue Initiative (APRI), has attributed the high rate of road crashes in the country to substandard auto mechanics.

The Executive Director of the Organisation, Mr Fidelis Nnadi, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.

According to Nnadi, most vehicles are maintained by auto-mechanics who don’t have the basic and standard knowledge of car parts unique to vehicles.

Nnadi said most auto-mechanics were trained by local instructors who only underwent “family internship” and lacked appropriate knowledge.

He also highlighted that most cars imported by car dealers were used cars that required proper maintenance before being used on Nigerian roads.

He said if cars imported were properly screened and maintained by knowledgeable auto-mechanics, it would reduce the high death rate accompanied by road crashes in the country.

“The transport system in Nigeria has remained archaic to such extent that there is no implementable policy on safety of road users.

“Some roads, especially in states, are constructed in same design of our former colonial masters.

“The legal framework towards regulating road transport operations are either non-existent or obsolete where they exist.

“The various extortions by some unscrupulous people on the roads deplete the revenue of transport owners and subject drivers to degrees of trauma that affect the safety of lives on the road,” he said.

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Nnadi urged the Federal Government to partner private organisations to tackle the prevalence of road crashes in Nigeria.

He said it was important to establish a road traffic safety fund at all levels of government, and to utilise the fund on road safety campaigns, road repairs, driver training, vehicle inspection, patrol motorcycles and welfare of transport sector operatives.

The executive director appealed that companies with heavy transport vehicles should support road traffic and safety funding to reduce the current rate of deaths and injuries caused by road crashes in the country. (NAN)