The Federal Road Safety Corps has expressed displeasure to the poor response of fleet operators to the Road Transport Safety Standardisation Scheme.

But the corps says it will forge ahead with its enforcement of safety standard among motorists, especially commercial drivers.

For instance, the corps said on Tuesday that only 15 of the 42 registered fleet operators in the Lagos Island Local Government Area of Lagos State passed the 2014/2015 RTSS test.

The FRSC Unit Commander for Lagos Island, Mr. Sodiq Abdulrahman, gave the figure to the News Agency of Nigeria after the presentation of certificates to successful fleet operators.

Abdulrahman said that the scheme was aimed at certifying drivers of fleet operators and making sure the vehicles were regularly inspected for the general safety of people.

“Every fleet operator with five and above vehicles is mandated by section 119 of the National Road Traffic Regulation to register with the scheme.

“What the scheme entails is the inspection of the organisation’s vehicles on yearly basis and training and certifying of their drivers and fleet managers. As far of this command is concerned, we have only 15 fleet operators certified in Lagos Island and we have given certificates to them,” he said.

According to him, organisation with vehicles below 25 is categorised under Class C; those with less than 50 vehicles fall under Class B while 50 and above belong to Class A.

He said that each fleet operator must have a manager in each terminus provided for drivers to rest after driving for four hours.

He said that the certification showed that the operators fully complied with safety standards.

Reacting, Mr. Sam Akerele, the Manager of Transports and Logistics for Artee Group, the owner of Park ‘n’ Shop, said the scheme had helped the organisation a lot.

“The certification is a development that has really helped us to grow and it has added value to the field of operations. It has assisted in guiding our drivers and reduced the rate of road accidents drastically,” he said.

He said that the organisation had been participating in the training every year by enrolling 30 of its drivers.

The manager, who said the major challenge of the scheme was that it required travelling to far North for training, urged the FRSC to decentralise the training programme.

The Head of Human Resources, Mandilas Group of Companies, Mrs. Rose Osuinde, said that the rate of accidents and losses being recorded on the road required that much attention should be given to drivers and their vehicles.

Osuide said that once the drivers and vehicles were taken care of, road traffic crashes would reduce.

The Head of Transport and Logistics, Cornerstone Nigeria Insurance Limited, Mr. Chinomoso Elechi, said that the training programme had helped the company to improve its mode of operations.

He urged the FRSC to increase its publicity of the scheme so that other fleet operators could key into the programme.

Meanwhile, the FRSC has advised commercial motorists to carry out regular inspections of their vehicles before driving out, no matter how short the journey is.

Abdulraham gave the advice in Lagos while addressing drivers during a sensitisation programme tagged ‘Beyond the road’.

He urged the drivers to avoid the use of faulty vehicles and shun recklessness, hard drugs, alcohol, distraction among other things capable of endangering their lives and other passengers.

He said that speed, bad tyres and hard drugs with other forms of distraction while driving had sent many drivers to the grave.

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