Uyo – The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says it recorded 14 deaths in 22 road crashes between January and June in Akwa Ibom.

The FRSC Sector Commander in the state Mr Musa Yerima, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Uyo.

Yerima attributed most of the road crashes to the use of cell phones while driving and over speeding.

“Most of these road crashes is attributed to the use of cell phones by drivers while driving.

“This distracts the attention of the drivers, which invariably makes them ramp over broken down vehicles on the road.

“Apart from use of cell phones while driving, over speeding, dangerous overtaking especially on corners or bending are other causes of road crashes.

“The predominant risk factors as attributed to Akwa Ibom state are speed limit violation, which is a very important factor that we are campaigning against, and dangerous driving.

“We have fashioned out strategies on how to minimise road crashes in the state especially now that we are in the peak of raining season,” he said.

He said the command has been campaigning for the need of speed limit device to be installed in all commercial vehicles in the state as measures to check over speeding by drivers.

Yerima said the command would not relent in its efforts to carry out public enlightenment campaign across all motor parks in the state.

He advised drivers that before a vehicle leave the park it should undergo some checks to determine its road worthiness, including good tyres, effective breaks and good spare tyres to avoid crashes.

He appealed to the Federal Government to urgently rehabilitate the Aba-Ikot Ekpene-Itu-Calabar road, describing it as one of the worst routes in the state.

He, however, cautioned drivers to be careful while driving, saying “no matter how bad the road is the consciousness of the driver is very important because it will influence his decision at the end of the day”.

/NAN