FRSC Introduces E-ticketing For Traffic Offence

The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in partnership with the United Bank for Africa (UBA), on Tuesday, inaugurated e-ticketing to facilitate easy booking of motorists for road traffic offences. Speaking at the inauguration, Mr Osita Chidoka, the Corps Marshal of the FRSC, said the bank had donated the first set of 60 hand-held devices for the e-ticketing. According to him, 10 other devices have been donated by another bank for the programme. Chidoka said the e-ticketing would initially take off as a pilot scheme in Lagos, Rivers and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). He said that with the introduction of the system, the FRSC would gradually move away from the conventional method of booking traffic offenders, which he described as obsolete and time-consuming. The corps marshal said the new system would enable the FRSC to track habitual offenders, improve data management and reduce time spent in booking offenders. “It will also enhance the capacity of the FRSC to confront road traffic offenders,’’ he added. He said the commission was in partnership with UBA in sensitising motorists to the dangers of receiving or making phone calls and sending messages while driving. Mr Kennedy Uzoka, the Deputy Managing Director of UBA, said that the bank was ready to work with the FRSC to save lives. “We have been looking for partners to save lives and we found the FRSC; we chose the FRSC because of its impact at the national level. “We can use technology to change the way people behave but texting while driving is very dangerous,” he said. In an interview with newsmen, Prof. Robert Boroffice, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Science and Technology, urged motorists to desist from using the phone while driving as the habit was a major cause of road accidents. “If you take the statistics of lives and property lost on the road you will find out that the number is even more than the number of lives lost through AIDs and other pandemic diseases,’’ he said. Boroffice commended the FRSC for introducing the e-ticketing, saying it is in line with the cashless policy of the present administration. “The system will also reduce fraud, so the issue of somebody shortchanging the Federal Government or the FRSC does not arise. It is a good initiative.’ Naij