•Says Commission not involved in importation, selection of device
•Explains how Speed Limiter works

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

CONCERNED about Vanguard’s special report on the proposed introduction of Speed Limiter Device by the Federal Government, the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, has said that the decision to introduce the device was not informed by monetary reasons. It said the move became necessary given that over 50 percent of road crashes in Nigeria, were caused by over speeding which will be reduced by the  enforcement of the device in the country  come  October 1, 2016.

•President Muhammadu Buhari and speedometer

The commission further said it was not involved in the importation and selection of the brand of Speed Limiters to be made available in the country, adding that it was only duty-bound as a regulator of road traffic and enforcer of traffic rules to ensure its usage.

Head, Media Relations and Strategy of the FRSC, Mr. Bisi Kazeem, who said this in a piece, disclosed that  the initiative was in partial fulfilment of the United Nations,UN, Decade of Action on Road Safety  which Nigeria is a signatory.

In addition, he said the notion that FRSC  introduced two sets of number plates for Nigerians to pay the sum of N7,500.00 and N1,000.00 respectively was not true, adding that the number plates were handed over to the Board of Internal Revenue  of Nigeria’s 36 states who would sell to the public.

He said: ‘’The speed limit device initiative has never been a scam. In the first instance, the introduction of the speed limiters was necessitated by our findings bordering on major factors responsible for road traffic crashes in Nigeria.  Last three years, speed limit violation accounted for about 50.8 percent of road crashes in the country.

This informed the initiative by the FRSC as the lead agency on road safety management to convene a stakeholders’ forum in 2013 with major stakeholders in the transport sectors, fleet operators and the Standard Organization of Nigeria ,SON, who came out with a specific standard of speed limiters to be used in the country.

‘’We do not in any way set these standards neither are we involved in the importation, selection of brand of the speed limiters which vehicle owners should install on their vehicles. It is, therefore, out of place to associate the Corps with any scam intent.