The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), has said the corps is proposing a N50,000 to N100,000 fine for mobile phone users, who do so while driving.
The Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi, said the paltry sum currently being paid, as fine by defaulters, has not done much in preventing drivers from using their mobile phones while driving.
He noted that about 74 FRSC officials lost their lives to reckless drivers in the last 18 months across the country.
Oyeyemi said: “Already, there are efforts before the National Assembly to jerk up the fine payable for a phone user while on the wheels.
“What is currently obtainable cannot do the work, but when you have to pay N50,000 to N100,000 for using your phone while driving, then we will get somewhere.
“In the last 18 months, I have lost about 74 lives. We will not stop at ensuring the prosecution of those errant drivers. It is my responsibility to ensure the safety of my personnel on the highway; so, if you knock down my personnel and you are running away, I will go after you,” he said.
Explaining further, the Corps Marshal said it was discovered during the last Sallah patrols, that 30 percent of articulated vehicle drivers do not see well at night: “When drivers have vision problems, they should go to optometrists who will refer them to opthamologists to correct their poor sight. We are also talking to them on the need to have speed limit control on their vehicles. The price has come down to N15,000 so the noise about cost isn’t valid anymore.”
More so, he lamented number of poor drivers plying Nigerian roads, while adding that driving schools in the country are yet to live up to expectations.
