The Ota Unit Command of the Ogun State Federal Road Safety Corps has advised drivers to check the tyres of their vehicles regularly to avoid road crashes.
The officer in charge of the unit, Assistant Corps Commander Leye Adegboyega, who gave the advice on Thursday during a stakeholders’ forum, also urged motorists to check the tyres’ expiry date before buying them, saying a large number of accidents were caused by expired tyres.
He said, “Between 2011 and 2015, no fewer than 5,288 road crashes across the federation were caused by bad or expired tyres. Sadly, 70 cases of road crashes following tyre bursts have been reported between February 29 and April 8, 2016. These figures are rising and the cases are almost always fatal when they occur.
“There is a need to regularly check and maintain tyres. Unfortunately, we have observed that most drivers and managers do not take their tyres seriously.”
He added, “We intend to educate tyre dealers, motorists, vulcanisers and other stakeholders on practical and graceful steps to enhance safety on the road. Many Nigerians gauge tyres without recourse to the vehicle’s manufacturers.”
Two of the stakeholders — the Ogun State Coordinator, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Mr. Enebi Onucheyo, and the Managing Director, Shell Nigeria Gas, Mr. Toyin Adenuga — urged dealers to desist from selling bad tyres.