TheCable

Boboye Oyeyemi, corps marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), has directed his men to impound vehicles with tampered speed limiting devices.

According to Bisi Kazeem, corps public education officer, the corps marshal gave the directive to zonal commanding officers, sector commanders and unit commanders across the country on Wednesday.

He said drivers who tamper with the calibrated speed limiting devices in their vehicles often speed beyond the prescribed legal speed limit “for selfish economic benefits at the expense of passengers safety”.

“The Federal Road Safety Corps as the lead government agency saddled with the responsibility of road traffic management in Nigeria identified speeding as a major contributing factor to road crashes and attendant casualties in the country,” Kazeem quoted him to have said.

“To create a safer motoring environment which is our core vision, Federal Road Safety Commission in line with the resolutions reached with Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Automotive Council of Nigeria, Transport Union Association and other stakeholders commenced the implementation and enforcement on the use of Speed Limiting devices in vehicles starting with commercial vehicles, nationwide.

“I have directed Commanding Officers to impound all vehicles suspected to have altered the device in their vehicles and ensure that such vehicles recalibrate the device before the vehicles are released and we shall be very strict and swift on this.

“The legal frame work backing the Commission’s implementation and enforcement of Speed Limiting Device for all categories of vehicles in Nigeria is stipulated in section 10(3) (m) of the FRSC (Est.) Act, 2007 and section 152(4) of National Road Traffic Regulation, 2012.”

FRSC had commenced enforcement of the law on the device in October 2016, but some drivers defy the rule, thereby endangering the lives of Nigerians.

The corps marshal said the agency will not allow such reckless act to prevail as tactical strategies have been put in place to impound such vehicles and make the drivers face the law accordingly.