Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS) also known as Vehicles Inspection Officers (VIOs) have warned operators of articulated vehicles in Abuja against violating the timing regulation of the directorate.
Its head of information and public enlightenment, Kalu Emetu, who gave the warning in an interview with LEADERSHIP, reminded the operators that there is a law which prohibits movement of articulated vehicles within the city centres and every other entry and exit routes, from 5am to 10am and from 4pm to 10pm.
Emetu explained that the reason for this law is for the heavy-duty vehicles not to compete with smaller vehicles on the roads, because it has been observed that articulated vehicles have caused many accidents which has led to the loss of many lives, especially along the Mararaba-Nyanya axis.
He noted that since the introduction of the policy, many crashes involving articulated vehicles in the nation’s capital, have been averted, while many lives have been saved in the territory, especially along Nyanya-Mararaba road corridor.
Emetu, however, stated that the challenge the directorate faces is that many of the operators of these articulated vehicles find it difficult to obey the directive, adding that the officers would not relent, but would continue to enforce the directive to protect lives and property.
“Moreover, you don’t see the articulated vehicles moving at the city centre, not until when the roads are cleared. And I will tell you that since the introduction of this timing regulation, a lot of accidents have been averted on FCT roads. And if you observe, during the peak hours on these roads, you will notice that our men are always busy stopping them,” he said.
