The Kwara Command of Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has reiterated commitment to ensuring safer roads in the state.

The new Sector Commander in the state, Mr Wihioka Uchechukwu, stated this during a hand-over between him and his predecessor, Mr Sunday Maku, in Ilorin on Monday.

Wihioka assured that he would continue with the good works of his predecessor, adding that he would ensure that there was total safety on roads in the state and environs.

“We can achieve this by collective efforts and that is with you, the general public and the corps. To ensure safer roads, we have to crash the crash,’’ he said.

On the challenges of safe roads in Nigeria, the commander said that the challenge of motorists was their attitude toward safety rules.

“Motoring public has a major challenge and it is our attitude to safety rules; this is not only in Kwara, but in the nation at large.

“For example, we all know the negative impact of overloading, yet some motorists still choose to ignore the dangers and overload.

“I am happy that the drivers here have keyed into the maximum speed limit and we pray they continue to adhere to it, especially during this period filled with festivities called `ember months’.

“We need to ensure that everybody on the high way is safe during this period and we will ensure total enforcement and that is why we plead with motorists to obey the highway rules and regulations.

“We plead with them to beware of over-speeding, over-loading and be wary of rickety vehicles.

“Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs) have reduced within routes in Kwara and we pray that we will get to a point where we will have zero accidents and crashes.

“We are collaborating with other security agencies and we will have a discussion on how to improve our strategies so that people who ply our roads are safer.

“It will enable many of them to know that it is dangerous to overload a vehicle, criminal to over speed and suicidal to pass a one way,’’ he said.

Uchechukwu advised motorists to avoid negative attitudes on the roads and to adhere to safety rules, especially during the “ember” months.

“It is important for Nigerians to know that their attitudes on the roads can result to crashes and they should avoid such attitudes.

“We will continue to interact with people on a daily basis, organise park rallies, workshops and seminars.

“Most importantly, we need the services of the media, because if our activities are disseminated accurately, the public will appreciate the level of work we are doing.

“And, there will be active and constant awareness of road safety rules and regulations among motorists,” he stressed.

Earlier, the Head of Operations in the command, Mr Udeme Eshiet, who represented Maku, welcomed the new sector commander and prayed that his stay in the state would be fruitful. (NAN)