FRSC Corps Marshal warns Nigerians against night trips, says it’s too dangerous and unsafe

According to him, there are great dangers, risks and rising cases of fatalities occasioned by road traffic crashes recorded at night.

Night trips which are often characterised by poor visibility, fatigue, sleeping on wheels, excessive speed among others, he emphasized, are not “only unsafe, but utterly dangerous.”

This warning  came while reacting to some reports of fatal crashes that were recently recorded at night, which have led to the death of several road users  and left others with different degrees of injuries.

Speaking against night trips and why it should be avoided, the Corps Marshal, lamented that on 8 September 2024 alone, an avoidable fatal crash occurred in Lapai, Niger State where 4 vehicles were caught up in an inferno that killed 37 people on the spot.

This crash, he noted, occurred as a result of a combination of factors namely; speed violation and fatigue.

Similarly, having maintained that crashes that occur at night are more fatal than the ones that happen in the day time, the Corps Marshal also lamented that while the nation was yet to recover from the shock of the Lapai crash, another one occurred on Thursday 12 September, 2024, killing 18 people still because of night trips.

The Corps Marshal, in a statement issued on Thursday by the Corps Public Education Officer, FRSC Headquarters Abuja, Corps Commander, Olusegun Ogungbemide, disclosed that intelligence report revealed that most fleet operators and other vehicle owners, including private vehicle owners who are addicted to night journeys, do so for selfish economic gains, unnecessary overloading of vehicles with animals, passengers and goods to evade arrest by FRSC patrol teams.

He warned that in as much as the Corps does not have the statutory powers to ban night trips, it has become very critical for patronisers of night trips to retrace their steps and plan their journeys in the day time, because often times, when crash occurs away from FRSC rescue points, it is always difficult to access help for motorists at night.

Listing the dangers associated with night travels, like poor visibility, fatigue, sleeping on wheels, dangerous driving, overloading, speeding among others, Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed also warned passengers whose journeys could wait till the next day, to resist any temptation that could lead them into patronising fleet operators at night.

The Corps Marshal warned that these deaths are not only avoidable and preventable but totally unacceptable hence the need for all to take caution.