FRSC to reduce accidents by enforcing use of Speed Limiting Devices from October 1

A new date has been approved for the implementation and enforcement of the use of Speed Limiting Devices (SLDs) in Nigeria.

According to Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Marshal, the presidency has approved of October 1, 2016.

Speaking to stakeholders in Abuja, he revealed details of the enforcement, which would only affect commercial vehicles, for now.

“The final directive from the presidency is clear; the enforcement date for the implementation of the speed limiting device is on Oct. 1 and we have had series of stakeholders meeting.

The essence of today’s meeting is to finally convey the directive of the federal government to the stakeholders that with effect from October 1, the implementation and enforcement would commence.

We already have the portal that we will use to monitor this, we don’t need to pursue any vehicle, we will just stop you like we verify licence.

On the tablet we will check whether your vehicle has been installed with the device, if it has not, we will impound the vehicle and we make sure that you do the right thing.

We are not talking about fines now ,it’s to save lives so we will impound the vehicle then the owner of the vehicle will be made to install the device before the journey continues,” he said.

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Oyeyemi also said the agency would do regular checks to ensure total compliance for the next three to six months.

Speed limiting devices were meant to launch on June 1, 2015, however, this date was pushed forward, due to initial resistance from a lot of groups.

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These devices, which have been described as "laudable and life saving’’, are expected to reduce speed-related accidents by 70 percent.