Reps panel okays FRSC’s speed limiters

Posted by admin Headlines, House, Legislature Tuesday, May 24th, 2016

John Ameh, Abuja

The House of Representatives Committee on Federal Road Safety Commission has endorsed the move by the Federal Road Safety Corps to introduce speed limiting devices on vehicles in the country as part of measures to curb road crashes.

A report of the committee, which The PUNCH obtained in Abuja on Monday, indicated that the FRSC acted within the powers conferred on it by the FRSC Act, 2007, to “implement strategies to safeguard lives and property of road users.”

Part of the report read, “The FRSC was acting within its purview as empowered by the FRSC Establishment Act 2007, to implement strategies to safeguard lives and property of all road users, hence its proposal to introduce the speed-limiting device was in order.”

The speed limiters had generated controversies across the country soon after the FRSC made the idea public.

Some of those who opposed the speed limiters, including the House of Representatives, had held the view that the technology was outdated and could further expose motorists to danger rather than save their lives.

The House in particular had opposed the N36,000 fee it would cost each of the motorists to fit the device into each vehicle.

In February, lawmakers passed a resolution to investigate the plan of the FRSC after an All Progressives Congress legislator from Edo State, Mr. Philip Shaibu, raised the alarm that the device was “outdated” and had failed in some African countries, including Kenya.

Following the development, the House directed the FRSC to suspend the project, while it summoned the Corps Marshal and Chief Executive Officer of the FRSC, Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi, to appear before the Committee on FRSC for explanations.

Findings by The PUNCH on Monday showed that the committee, after seeking the views of many stakeholders, including the Nigerian Society of Engineers, National Union of Road Transport Workers, fleet operators and transport sector experts, resolved to endorse the speed limiters.

However, the committee recommended that the speed limiters should be used in addition to the deployment of more modern technologies like the ‘Spider Technology,’ as had been suggested by many of the stakeholders.

The committee also stated that the application of the speed limiters should start with commercial vehicles and other fleet operators “only.”

-Punch

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