Piqued
by road mishaps at Umuahia, Abia and Bayelsa states in the last one
month, which claimed the lives of 24 passengers and two drivers, the
Chairman of Peace Mass Transit (PMT) Limited, Dr Sam Onyishi, has begun
“defensive driving” training for his drivers.
Onyishi, who
addressed a press conference at the Emene, Enugu headquarters of the bus
company yesterday, said training in defensive driving for the drivers
became inevitable. Besides, Onyishi said he felt pains any time his
vehicle was involved in a crash. Hence, his resolve to arm his “drivers
on the knowledge to drive with other road users in order to avoid
crashes that could come from the carelessness of other drivers. I am in a
mourning mood and that is why people say I have not said anything. It
will be wrong for me to go on radio or the pages of newspapers to start
talking when I am mourning,” he said just as he condoled with families
of those who lost loved ones in the crashes.
Onyishi who said he has
over 4,000 buses plying across 26 states of the federation disclosed
that all his buses have factory-fitted speed limiters.
Even as the FRSC come to retrain his drivers in every quarter of the year.
The
South-East Zonal Sector Commander of the FRSC, Mr Samuel Obayemi
corroborated Onyishi’s claim that his buses are fitted with speed
limiters, which the corps commissioned since 2009.
Obayemi also said
that officers of the FRSC have been coming to retrain the drivers of
PMT, saying that if the company was contravening safety standards, the
corps would not have been collaborating with it.
He urged the drivers
of the PMT to be more vigilant as they ply the road and put into good
use what they would be taught in defensive driving.
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