Frsc writes Toyota over high rate of crashes.

Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps,
Osita Chidoka, said on Wednesday that he had
written to the Managing Director of Toyota
Nigeria Limited over high frequency of crashes
involving Toyota buses, especially the Hiace
brand.
Chidoka said extensive investigations and
analysis of commuter vehicles carried out by the
FRSC between 2007-2012, showed that Toyota
Hiace buses were involved in 1,844 accidents.
He said 31 percent of bus accidents within the
period also resulted in fire incidents.
The FRSC boss, who spoke at a sensitisation
programme on speed limiting devices in Abuja,
stressed that the situation was unacceptable to
his organisation.
He said the study indicated that road traffic
crashes involving buses had been on the
increase since 2007 and that available data
showed an average yearly increase of 126
crashes involving Toyota Hiace buses,
representing 48 per cent of the total number of
buses involved in accidents.
He noted that Nigeria started recording high
Toyota Hiace crashes in August 2010.
“It is on record that Toyota Hiace YH3 buses
were recalled in Australia as a result of fire in
1990 and recently in 2012. The 1990 safety
recall closed August 26, 2010, the period Nigeria
started recording high Toyota Hiace crashes
involving fire incidents. The corps has therefore
written to the Managing Director of Toyota to
bring this menace to their attention,” he said.
The Corps Marshall advised commercial bus
owners to install speed limiting devices in their
vehicles and obey stipulated speed limits while
plying the roads.
Chidoka said the FRSC had also written to the
management of Young Shall Grow Motors over
the frequent involvement of their buses in
crashes, saying the company’s buses were
involved in 32 crashes which resulted in 71
deaths and 93 injuries between January 2012
and June 2013.
He said that the FRSC was carrying out a full
audit of safety processes of the transport
company, spanning its drivers, vehicles, and
company policies to ascertain their compliance
with minimum safety standards.
The FRSC, Chidoka said, was collecting data on
another transport firm, Peace Mass Transit, and
would also conduct safety audit on the company.
He noted that the PMT and the ABC transport
company had voluntarily commenced the
installation of speed limiters, which he described
as an effective means of preventing speed
violation and resultant consequences, in their
buses.
Secretary to Government of the Federation,
Senator Pius Anyim said there was a need to
work together to stop speed violation by
motorists, adding that the Federal Government
believed that speed limiting devices in
commercial vehicles and trucks would reduce
road crashes in the country.
source http://www.punchng.com/news/frsc-
writes-toyota-over-high-rate-of-crashes/