By Chinasaokwu Helen Okoro
The Federal Road Safety Corps has unveiled strategies to combat Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs), shifting focus from motor park rallies to community-based initiatives across the country.
The Corps Public Education Officer, Assistant Corps Marshal Olusegun Ogungbemide, said this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.
Ogungbemide said the corps was concerned about the loss of steam and relevance of the motor park rally style of reaching out to drivers and members of the public in its campaign for safer road environment.
He said that the corps had changed to the town hall meetings and press conferences as the alternative campaign strategies while not totally negating motor park rallies.
Ogungbemide noted that over the years, the corps had always relied on the motor park rally method of public enlightenment programs by which drivers and travellers were gathered at the parks.
This, he said were where road safety education and enlightenment issues were shared to them through interactive sessions with the participants.
He said, “But with increasing cases of lawlessness being displayed by drivers, mostly commercial and the fatalities recorded from road traffic crashes, the Corps has since discovered the impotence of such method.
This in which is where the main target audience are not readily available at the time of the rally. Consequently, a new method has to be worked out in alignment with developments in communication systems.
“The Corps Marshal, Shehu Mohammed, approved the use of town hall meetings, on transit campaign and press conferences as the most suitable means of communicating road safety messages to the target groups which every command has been directed to adopt henceforth.
“That is in his commitment to eradicating pervasive cases of road traffic crashes being recorded across the country.
” The Corps Marshal in his diligent commitment to finding solutions through appropriate means of reaching out to the public especially the drivers and Commuters in passing road safety messages saw the need to review our old engagement system with the public through a more effective communication system.
That was what gave birth to the ideas of town hall meetings and press conferences, which the National Headquarters of the Corps and field commands would henceforth be committed to utilising.
“This include the yearly ember months special enlightenment programs.”
The FRSC spokesman stressed that in giving effect to the new method, the usual flag off of the end of the year special road safety campaign for this year would be different.
He said that commanding Officers and public education officers in the field commands would constantly brief the public through engagement with various stakeholders in town hall fashion and press conferences.
“For wider and and effective broadcast, Mosques, Churches and other sociocultural settings would become the new platform for engaging with the participants.
“This aligns with the global focus on the menace of RTCs which requires that every community, mosque, churches and schools actively participate in programs that could create public consciousness on road safety matters.
“This will be with a view to averting the huge social and economic loses which road traffic crashes cause to humanity,”he stressed.
Ogungbemide, however, called on members of the public to embrace the new campaign method, emphasising the need for the public to take to take ownership of the campaign for safer road environment.
This, he said would be through massive participation of everyone especially the commuters that were most vulnerable in case of crashes.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that FRSC as the lead agency in road traffic management and safety administration is charged with the responsibility of averting road carnage using all clinical and enforcement strategies to create safer road environments.
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