The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has said that the use of bicycle as a mode of transportation will not only reduce incessant cases of road crashes in the nation’s highway, especially in urban areas, but would also save lives.
The Anambra State Sector Commander of FRSC, Sunday Ajayi, disclosed this yesterday in Awka while briefing newsmen on the launch of the National Bicycle Week and urged Nigerians to partner with the FRSC and the national stakeholders forum to make the programme a success.
Ajayi said the campaign for cycling has become imperative in view of its positive impact on vehicle usage and by implication road traffic crashes and even the reduction of national fuel consumption.
He explained that introducing the planned system in our cities conforms to Nigeria’s’ Vision 2020 on road traffic crashes, which seek to place the country among the first 20 nations in the global safest road ranking.
“The crusade is in tandem with the global approach in solving road traffic issues targeted at decongesting the nation’s roads occasioned by increase of motorization, as well as emission of fumes from vehicles with its attendant health implications.
“The desire to respond to the ever increasing transportation and traffic bottlenecks in Nigeria cities and the need to rise up to the challenges of increasing cost of transportation to families, environmental pollution and health problems resulting from lack of exercise informs the need to include bicycle transportation as part of existing modes of movement”.
“It is therefore a wakeup call to get Nigerians riding in pleasure along our streets and roads without concern of being trapped in traffic, fuelling and getting places to park their cars, as they will be exercising daily while making their trip,” he said.
Ajayi also revealed the commission’s plan to partner with the government through the Ministry of Transport, Works, and Lands to ensure the provision of bicycle pathway during road construction as well as provision of other requisite infrastructure.
Also speaking, the Director of Sports in the state, Umudu Joseph, who represented the Commissioner for Sports, highlighted other benefits derivable from bicycling as a means of transport including exercising, competition and racing.