By Ibironke Ariyo
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has unveiled groundbreaking strategies to combat Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs), shifting focusx from motor park rallies to community-basedx initiatives across the country.
The Corps Public Education Officer (CPEO) and Assistant Corps Marshal (ACM), Olusegun Ogungbemide, said this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.
Ogungbemide said the Corps is concerned about the loss of dynamism and relevance of the meet-and-greet style of motor parks in engaging with motorists and the public as part of its campaign for a safer road environment.
He said the Corps has used town hall meetings and press conferences as alternative campaign strategies, without completely denying demonstrations in parking lots.
Ogungbemide noted that over the years, the Corps has always relied on the motor park assembly method of public information programs where drivers and passengers congregate at the parks.
There, participants could find out more about road safety issues in interactive sessions, he said.
»But given the rising cases of illegal drivers, especially commercial vehicles, and the number of deaths in car accidents, the Corps has now realized the ineffectiveness of such a method.
“Here the main target group cannot be reached at the time of the meeting. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a new method based on advances in communication systems.
“Marshal Shehu Mohammed has advocated the use of community meetings, public transport campaigns and press conferences as the most appropriate means of conveying road safety messages to target groups, which must now be adopted by all commands.”
“This is part of its commitment to eliminate widespread cases of road accidents across the country.
» The Corps Marshal, in his zealous commitment to finding solutions through appropriate means to reach the public, especially motorists and travelers, through the transmission of road safety messages, recognized the need to review our old system of interaction with the public check more effective communication system.
“This has generated ideas for town hall meetings and press conferences that the Corps National Headquarters and field commands would commit to using in the future.
“This also includes the special annual lighting programmes for the ember months,” he said.
The FRSC spokesperson stressed that with the new method, the usual signage for this year’s special end-of-year road safety campaign would be different.
He said the commanders and public education officers in the field commands would continuously inform the public by interacting with various stakeholders through community moderations and press conferences.
“For a more comprehensive and effective transmission, mosques, churches and other socio-cultural environments would become new platforms for interaction with participants.
“This is in line with the global approach to the RTC menace, which requires all communities, mosques, churches and schools to actively participate in programmes that can sensitize the public on road safety issues.
“The aim is to avert the enormous social and economic damage that road crashes cause to humanity,” he stressed.
Ogungbemide, however, appealed to the public to embrace the new campaign method, stressing the need for public ownership of the campaign for a safer road environment.
He said this was possible through massive participation of all, especially passengers who are most at risk of crashes.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the FRSC, as the primary road traffic management and safety administration agency, is mandated to prevent road crashes by using all clinical and policing strategies to create safer road environments.
