The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has said that the acceptable speed limit for vehicles in cities, towns, and villages is 30km per hour.

The Kwara FRSC Sector Commander, Mr. Jonathan Owoade, said this at a news conference heralding the commemoration of the 6th United Nations (UN) Global Road Safety Week in the state on Monday in Ilorin.

Owoade said that the theme for the 2021 Week is “Street For Life” while appealing to the motoring public to reduce their speed whenever they were in built-up areas.

“The road safety week brings together individuals, government officials, NGOs, corporate entities, and other organizations to raise awareness on road safety and make changes that will reduce the rate of death and injuries from Road Traffic Crashes (RTC).

“The theme of this year’s edition is “Street For Life” which calls for 30km/hr as an acceptable speed limit for vehicles in built-up areas such as cities, towns, and villages.

“We have observed that speed is the major cause of RTC worldwide and we observed that most of the time we are not mindful of our speed.

“There is a popular saying that ‘speed thrills but kills. Some people even when they are tired still speed, which can cause loss of concentration and control and the vehicle can veer off the road.

“If a vehicle is traveling at the rate of 100km/hr, it equals to moving at the rate of 28 meters per second which is very dangerous when a vehicle veers off the road.

“We have also noticed that speed limit is not observed in built-up areas and that is why we are calling on corporate bodies to see how we can enlighten people.

“We need the cooperation of the media and other critical stakeholders to raise awareness; this appeal is going on worldwide.

Nigerians deserve a police force that can be trusted – Gbajabiamila

“Anything can happen on the roads, a child may run into the road, animals may cross and other distractions may occur, so in order to be able to control the vehicle you need to take it easy and reduce your speed,” he said.

The sector commander highlighted some of the activities for the week to include advocacy visits to stakeholders, media talk, Jumu’ah prayer, hospital visitation, and Christian prayers.

The 6th United Nations (UN) Global Road Safety Week is a biennial global campaign hosted by World Health Organisation (WHO) through the UN resolution.

The campaign will run from May 17 to 23.