The recommendation forms
part of the October Road Traffic Crash Report 2016, submitted by the Corps
Marshal, Mr Boboye Oyeyemi, to the Secretary to the Government of the
Federation.
The Federal Road Safety
Corps has recommended a nationwide ban on commercial motorcycles popularly
known as ‘Okada’ to reduce road accidents.
The report quotes Oyeyemi
as saying that commercial motorcyclist remained a major cause of fatal road
traffic accidents across the country, hence the need for state governments to
consider banning them from operating.
The RTC statistics for
October 2016 shows that 230 cases or 18 per cent of a total of 1,259 vehicles
involved in accidents within the month were commercial motorcycles.
According to the report,
motorcycle accidents ranked third after cars which accounted for 457 cases or
36 per cent, followed by minibuses with 243 or 19 per cent of the total.
Oyeyemi said, “Following the
outcome of the analysis, it could be concluded that motorcycle still
constitutes serious menace on the nation’s highways.
“Accordingly, improved
results could be achieved in the future, if more state governments could
consider placing a ban on the use of motorcycle for commercial purposes.
“In view of the above, the
Secretary to the Government of the Federation should facilitate and encourage
state governments to ban the use of motorcycle for commercial purposes.’’
Commercial motorcycle is
currently banned from major routes in some cities and towns including Abuja and
state capitals across the country.
Besides their contributions
to road accidents, they have also been linked to the operations of armed
robbers, kidnappers and other criminals in several parts of the country.
In 2014, the National
Council on Transport recommended their ban nationwide “to ensure adequate
provision of safe and secure means of transportation in the country’’.
Reports say Anambra and
Lagos states had for over two years banned the use of commercial motorcycle on
highways in their territories.
(NAN)
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