The Federal Road Safety Corps has expressed displeasure over the increasing rate of road accidents on the Nigerian highways.
The FRSC Corps Marshal, Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, said most of the tyres used by Nigerian motorists are fakes, a key factor in the increasing rate of road accidents in the country.
According to him, most of the fairly used tyres imported from abroad are either fake, substandard or have expired.
He also explained that the poor state of roads such as potholes and failed portions equally affect the life-span of tyres, adding that fake tyres had been responsible for 5,562 vehicles being involved in road mishaps between 2012 and 2017.
He lamented total disregard and subsequent non-compliance to the instructions on tyres.
“Many of the local vulcanizes use non-properly calibrated measuring tools while some lack basic knowledge of measurement of tyres’ pressure, which results in arbitrary gauging of tyres without recourse to manufacturer’s specification. This is common in this country and it is unacceptable,” he stressed.
Oyeyemi, harping on the need to guard against overspeeding while driving, said, “Higher speeds are less forgiving and lower speeds are more forgiving in all traffic situations, including a tyre burst.”
He, however, gave the breakdown of total crashes that were caused by tyre related preoblems from 2012 to 2017 as follows: 2012 (693 crashes); 2013 (1,271 crashes); 2014 (873 crashes); 2015 (813 crashes); 2016 (689 crashes); and finally, in 2017 a total of 691 crashes representing 7.36 per cent of the total crash recorded.
Oyeyemi’s presentation featured a survey conducted by FRSC on use of tyres on Nigerian roads in 2016, where it was discovered that of the 2,486 vehicles and 10,024 tyres that constituted the population of the survey, 39 percent tyres were not expired as against 61 percent; 50 percent tyres were new, 35 per cent fairly used tyres, and 15 per cent was of the
re-bore stuff.
Nine percent, he added, were completely worn-out tyres, as against 91 percent that were not completely worn out.
He, therefore, warned that the Corps would not relent in its efforts to ensure compliance with safety standards, especially as they affect the use of tyres.
