The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Gombe State said it has recorded 79 deaths in 278 Road Traffic Crashes (RTC) between January and Oct. 31, 2023.

The Commander of the Corps, Mr Felix Theman stated this in Gombe at the inauguration of the 2023 Ember Months campaign, on Tuesday in Gombe.

The theme of the campaign is: “Speed Thrills but Kills, Drive Responsibly and Avoid Overloading”.

He said that 779 persons sustained varying degrees of injuries in the crashes, adding that analysis of the RTC indicated a significant drop in the number of crashes.

Theman attributed the trend to a decrease in the number of passengers travelling in the state.

“In 2022; the command recorded a total of 445 crashes with 57 fatalities killing a total of 110 persons while 1,074 were injured.

“However, for the year 2023 up to Oct. 31, 2023, a total of 278 crashes have been recorded with 43 fatal cases killing 79 persons while 779 injured,” Theman said.

He said that personnel of the corps arrested 4,665 offenders who committed 5,098 traffic offences in the past ten months across the state.

“The highest offences for which they were arrested and issued tickets were overloading, failure to install speed limiting devices, failure to display number plate, driving without a license, failure to wear a seatbelt, driving against traffic, amongst other offences”.

According to him, the Corps in collaboration with stakeholders is adopting proactive measures to ensure safe road use throughout the Ember months.

The state routes, he said, were being mapped out to enable the personnel carry out effective patrol and surveillance as well as enforce traffic rules to ensure the safety of motorists in the state.

While commending the state government for providing good road infrastructure, Theman advised drivers not to see the gesture as a reason for excessive speeding.

“Your safety is more important than anything else while on the road; so drive safely and remember the lives of your passengers too”.

The Gombe State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya said the state government was concerned about the safety of all motorists using roads in the state.

Represented by his Deputy, Manassah Jatau, the governor said his administration embarked on massive road construction and installation of solar-powered street lights in the metropolis to ensure the safety of road users.

“Much as the state government is doing its best, it is expected that our people must develop and imbibe the right attitude towards the usage of these roads.

“Basically, we are expected to take upon ourselves the twin social responsibility of eagerness to obey the rules guiding the usage of the roads and the willingness to share the roads with others,” he said.